


The Glitch Inside

by Firenza



Series: The Glitch Inside [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF, jacksepticeye
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Angst, Blindness, Blood, Coma, Dubious Medical Procedures, Electricity, F/M, Family Dynamics, Guilt, Hidden Cameras, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Torture, Magic, Nightmares, Past Suicide, Possession, Psychological Torture, Suicide Attempt, Surgery, Water Balloon Fights, Water Gun Fights, and I’m too lazy to research it, attempted comfort, don't believe his lies, flamingo shorts, gun - Freeform, hot days, i don’t know how any of this works, just some plain old fun, knife, minor PTSD, psychological abuse, self doubt, shocking, sleep spells, zalgo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-06-06 20:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 27,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15203045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firenza/pseuds/Firenza
Summary: Anti has been silent since Jack and Henrik escaped his grasp over a year ago. When Jameson cuts his finger during a water battle one hot summer day, the rest of the egos realize that they aren't as safe as the quiet would seem.Pasts are uncovered, secrets are revealed, and no one is safe from the glitch inside them.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a hot summer day, warmer than normal for that time of year, and Jameson was beat. He'd ditched his traditional outfit for something a little more modern and cool. Jackie had offered him an old t-shirt that he hadn't worn in a long time, and the younger ego had gratefully accepted it. He had also found a pair of blue shorts with small pink flamingos on them laying across the back of the living room couch and had elected to wear those instead of his stuffy pants. He just hoped that the owner, he assumed Jack, wouldn't mind. Despite the heat, he'd decided to relax outside in the cool shade under a tall oak tree in their backyard, the final Harry Potter book perched on his knees and a tall glass of lemonade beside him. His bowler hat sat upon his teal hair blocking the few rays of sun that happened to stray through the leaves. It was peaceful. 

Until something wet exploded in his face. The gentleman sputtered, wiping the water out of his eyes as someone laughed. That person turned out to be Chase who was holding a Nerf water gun in his hand. _"Chase! Good heavens, what was that for?"_ Jameson exclaimed.

The older ego smirks, "Well you did say you wanted a way to beat the heat, right?"

 _"You could have at least warned me!"_ Jamie pushes himself to his feet and noticed the cup of lemonade next to him. An idea sparks in his head. He picked it up and crossed the yard to Chase. _"Are you thirsty, Chase?"_

The other looked at him quizzically, "I mean, yeah-" Jameson splashed the drink in his face. Now it was Chase's turn to sputter, "Hey! Why- That was-"

 _"Payback, my good sir."_ Jameson winks and returns to the tree. 

Chase crosses his arms, "So that's how it's gonna be huh?" Amusement hints his voice. He disappears back into the house. Jameson wonders for a moment what his plans are, but the thoughts are abandoned as he resumes reading. A chapter later, the back door creaks open and multiple people shuffle out. He ignores them, hoping they don't bother him. He is sadly mistaken. He hears a soft countdown, then a loud: "Attack!" as he's pelted with water balloons and jets of water. Jamie cried out and dived behind the tree for protection, abandoning the book in his haste. He scoffs and after a moment of peace, pokes his head out. Four people stood huddled together. He could make out Chase and Jackie, but the other two were hidden. It wasn’t until they looked up that he saw their faces. His creator and his girlfriend stood alongside his brothers.The silent ego cursed softly and ducked back behind the tree. There was no way he was getting out of here with out getting wet. He’d have to sneak back inside the house to even get a weapon to protect himself. He smacked his forehead, remembering that he didn't need to do that. He holds out his hand and a water gun appears in his hand. To his delight, it's already filled.

Jameson climbed the tree and peered down at them. The others were still preparing for their second wave of attack. Signe and Jack leaned against the outside wall refilling their Nerf guns; Jackie had taken to filling water balloons while discussing battle strategies with Chase. Jameson raised his gun and fired. The stream of water hit Jackie in the middle of his back. He spun around and looked at Jack and Signe, “Hey! I thought we were a team?” 

“What are you talking about? We are.” Jack responded.

”Who just shot me then?” Everyone glances around and shrugs. Jackie glares at them, but doesn’t say anything else. Jameson softly giggled to himself and fired again, this time aiming for Chase. Unfortunately, Signe stands up at the wrong time and ends up with a face full of water.

”Hey!” She cried. Her eyes dart around and land on Jameson in the tree and widen as she notices his water gun. “Jamie’s got a gun!” She points to him. The others whip around to him and he ducks, dodging an onslaught of water. He peaks up ever so slightly and his hat is knocked off as a water balloon smacks into the top of his head. The force causes him to loose his grip slightly. The branch quickly become slippery with all the water.

 _“Oh brother. This is not good.”_ He mutters to himself. He quickly crawls down from the tree and points his gun at them. 

“Fire!” Chase’s voice rings around the yard and another wave hits him. He tries to fire back but with all the water hitting him he can’t see where he's aiming. 

They go back and forth until the door slams open and an annoyed Schneeplestien steps out, “Vat is going on here? You all are interrupting some very important vork I must get finished.” 

Chase winced, “Sorry, doc. We can stop if you need us too.” A water balloon flies over his head and lands smack on Schneep’s shoulder. He tenses and scowls at the culprit.

Jack smirks at the doctor, “Come on, Henrik. Come help us drench JJ.”

Schneeplestien looks at the already soaking Jameson, “I think he’s vet enough but...” He eyes the group, “You four look quite dry.” With a grace Jamie didn’t know the doctor had, Henrik steals Chase's gun and runs over next to him. “Let’s drench zese moserfuckers.” He fires at the opposing team and hits Jack square in the face. Their creator squawks and falls back on his butt. Jameson clambers back up the tree to get a better vantage point. The battle continues with Henrik fighting on the ground and Jameson sniping the others from above. At some point, Marvin joins in, but he doesn't pick a side and just drenches whoever he feels like, using his magic to throw water at them.

Eventually the guns run empty and they're just left flinging water balloons at each other. One balloon hits Jameson in the neck. It sends him stumbling back and right hand slams into the tree. A sharp pain slices through one of his fingers as it slides against the rough wood. He hisses softly and looks down at his hand. Blood gushes out of the small cut on his finger from a familiar spot. His heart stops as a horrible memory surfaces.

_"Yowzah! That did more than tickle, doc!" The actor cried out as the knife cut his finger. He stared at his hand in shock as he felt around the table and floor for something to cover the cut with. A strange voice filters into his head, whispering soft, unintelligible words. He grabs a piece of cloth lying on the floor and wraps it tightly around his finger. He suddenly feels his arm move. Except, he's not moving that arm. The hand grabs the knife he just used and points it at the camera, as if threatening the people watching. The voice in his head grows louder and he can begin to make out a some of the words. "St̨ill ͟here. Pưp҉p̵et͟s. ̴" He freezes in fear,"Sti͏ll͢ ͜here,͞ st̴il͜l̨ ̸w͟a̕tc̶h͠i͘n̷g. St̡ill͘ her͜e, ͏stįl̸l͘ watching. ͞Stil̵l he̷r͟e҉.͟ ̴W̕a͜t͘ch͠ing̕." He struggles to move his arm, but finds that he'd not in control of his own body. He wants to scream, to cry for help, but he can't move his mouth._

_The words repeat, over and over. Colors flash in front of his eyes. The glitchy voice grows louder and softer at seemingly random intervals. He feels his body convulse in laughter, the sound that it emits not his own. It laughs and laughs. His hand reaches up and tugs at his mustache, partially ripping it off. Slowly, the voice fades, and he gradually gains control of his body again. He stares at the wrapped cut on his finger. He swallows hard and presses at his mustache. There's some comfort in finding that it's still there. He sits in stillness for a few minutes, assessing what just happened. Eventually, he writes it off as a seizure, as it's not the only one he's had, and takes a deep breath, turning back to the camera to do the outro of the movie._

"Jay!" A call breaks him out of the flash back. Jack is holding him by the shoulders, his eyes wide in fear. No, not fear, concern. Jameson shakes his head, trying to get rid of the memory.

"Are you alright, Jamie?" The doctor asks. A high-pitched giggle echoes in the back of his mind when Henrik bends down next to Jack, causing him to seize up again. Jameson shoots to his feet, ignoring the other's protests, and beelines for the door as fast as he can. The knowledge of who's in his head too much for him to bear. He _can't_ let him out. He races into a bathroom and slams the door behind him. The cabinet door flies open and various medicines are thrown out in Jameson's search for a something to cover the reopened wound. He finds the box and yanks a small band-aid out. It's quickly wrapped around his finger. He leans against the sink and takes a deep breath. Another giggle rings throughout the room, except this time it comes from outside his mind. He whips his head up and looks in the mirror. Bloody tears spill down from his bloodshot eyes. He rubs at them, and when they reopen Anti's devilish smirk greets him.

Jameson stumbles back, _"N-no."_ He whimpers, _"Leave me alone."_ The glitch doesn't reply, just brings his knife up and draws two lines on either side of his mouth. He mouths one word.

"S̕m̵į͠l̸̨e̸.͜"


	2. Chapter 2

Jack softly knocked on the bathroom door, “Jay? Are you alright?” A muffled whimper comes from inside the room. “Jay?” He knocked again. He tries the handle, locked. A soft curse drifts from his mouth. Marvin grabs the handle and mutters a spell. A soft clicking sound is heard and he slowly opens the door. 

Jameson is huddled against the wall, his face buried in his knees. Soft sobs rack his body. None of the group move, too shocked. Jameson hardly ever showed his emotions, only surpassed by Marvin. They were stunned to see the scene before them. Signe pushed through the small crowd and into the bathroom. “Signe...” Jackie warns softly, sensing that something's very wrong. She brushes him off and leans down in front of Jameson.

”Jamie?” She asks, voice low. He doesn’t respond, “Hey, what happened?” He shakes his head. She pets his hair softly, "Shh... everything will be alright." She sounds like she means it, but the look on her face says other wise.

A tingling sensation crawls up Jack's spine. He tenses and exchanges a nervous look with Henrik, who he knows felt it too. In a leap of courage, he steps into the bathroom and kneels down next to Signe. “Jay... it’s just us. No one is gonna hurt you.” That last part feels like, and probably is, a lie, but it’s out of his mouth before he can stop it. 

 _“He will.”_ The two words echo in Jack’s head, sending dread into his heart. There’s nothing he can say to that. Anti had already hurt Jameson, and there was a good chance he'd do it again.

Signe places her hand on Jameson's shoulder. "Jamie, can you look at us?" He shakes he head again.

"Come on, Jameson. None of us are mad at you. We just want to help you." Chase says. Jack recognized the tone as the same one he used with his kids. Not that it surprised him. It was no secret that Chase had acted as a pseudo father to Jameson since day one. 

Jameson sniffles, _"If you insist."_ He slowly raises his head. Jack's heart stops as he sees the bloody tears spilling down his cheeks. Behind him, the others gasp in shock. Signe grabs a wad of toilet paper to wipe the blood away. As she reaches for his cheek, he chuckles. She halts, confusion evident on her face. His laughter grows louder, turning into a sound that isn't Jameson's. A sound that has haunted Jack's nightmares for months. He claps his hand over his ears, trying to keep the sound out. Someone yells something, but he only catches Marvin's name through the maniac laughter. There's a thud as Henrik topples to the ground. Jack can't tell if he fainted or if Marvin cast a spell on him. He figures its the latter as the magician presses his palm to the back of his head. He feels woozy for a moment before falling into darkness.

-

He woke in his darkened bedroom. His head was fuzzy as Marvin spell was still wearing off. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. Like his head, his memories were fuzzy. Why had Marvin spelled him? It took him a minute, but when he remembered he threw the covers off himself and practically jumped out of bed. He needed to know if everyone was okay. He'd forgotten about how weak his limbs get as Marvin's sleep spell wears off, but he pushed through. Soft voices drift up the stairs. Jack guesses that they're in the kitchen as that seems to be the meeting place for things like this. He descends the stairs, leaning on the handrail for support. When he enters the kitchen, Jackie jumps in surprise.

"What are you doing up?" Marvin asks, clearly just as surprised, "The spell shouldn't have worn off yet." 

Jack slides into a chair next to Signe, "It hasn't fully." His speech is slightly slurred from weariness. The others look at each other and shrug, knowing there was no way to get him back to sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Chase inquires. 

There was no reason to lie and say that he was fine. They would coax the truth out of him anyway. "Sleepy. Scared for poor Jameson." He yawns, "How's he doing by the way?" There's an awkward pause as they silently decided who would answer the question. 

Signe finally speaks up, "Marvin had to perform an exorcism. Jamie's unconscious in his room right now."

"Fuckin' hate doing those things." The magician mutters and takes a sip from a clear coffee mug. It was uncommon for him to drink coffee, but after particularly tiring spells he opted for it instead of tea to help rejuvenate his strength. 

"What about Henrik?" Jack was just as worried to ask about the doctor. He and Henrik had both been trapped and tortured by Anti, and had both escaped with their fair share of trauma. Neither of them knew how exactly to deal with it, but Henrik didn't exactly cope healthily. Instead of sharing when he was uncomfortable, he bottled it inside. It only showed when it got to be too much and exploded out. 

"He's probably still sleeping, although I wouldn't be surprised if he was working on something right now." Chase leans back in his chair, fiddling with the brim of his snap-back. They fall quiet, the only sound being the occasional soft slurp from Marvin, or a sniffle from Jackie who was getting over a cold. 

Jack pushed back from the table and stood, his legs finally ready to fully support his weight. "I'm going to check on Jameson." He announced. He knows after what just happened, it's probably not the smartest idea. They give him a quizzical look.

Jackie raises an eyebrow, "Is that a good idea?"

"I may as well." He shrugs, "If he's awake, I'd like to talk to him." 

"Be careful. If he shows any sign of, well, anything weird, get the hell out of there." Marvin instructs.

Jack nods, "It will." It's an empty promise, if Anti did appear he'd like to have a word with the demon as well. But that was unlikely, especially if Marvin had performed an exorcism. He climbed the stairs and headed to Jameson's room. He pressed an ear to the door. Silence greets him. Maybe he's still asleep. He decides to knock. 

Jameson answers, his telepathic voice soft, _"Who is it?"_

"It's Jack. Can I come in?" Jack says.

 _"Why would you want to? Aren't you scared of me?"_   He hears a sniffle from inside the room.

"I- Of course not!" Not a lie; It technically isn't Jameson that he's scared of. "I just want to talk, Jay." A moment passes, then the door opens. The first thing Jack notices about him is that the tears have left their mark on his face in the form of red stains on his cheeks. His eyes are red rimmed and bloodshot. At first glance they're void of emotion, but after closer inspection, they seem sad, even guilty. He steps out of Jack's way, allowing him to enter the room. Jack does just that and stands against the wall.

Jameson closes the door and sits gently on his bed, _"What did you want to talk about?"_

Jack hugs an arm to his chest, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." The ego half laughs at that, and Jack snorts softly, "Okay, maybe the answer to that was a bit more obvious than I intended." 

 _"I’m not stupid. What did you really want to talk about, Jack?"_ Jameson meets his eyes. 

He has to avert his gaze, "You don't have to answer this if you don't want, but what exactly happened earlier?" He rubs the back of his neck.

His shoulders slump, _"I figured that was it..."_ He bites at the inside of his cheek, a habit Jack has as well. He pats the bed in front of him.  _"Have as seat at least, you don't need to keep standing."_  Jack gratefully takes a seat on the edge of the bed. Jameson takes a breath, _"While we were throwing balloons at each other, I got hit in the neck, which sent me flying back and I cut my hand against the tree. Unfortunately, it was the exact same spot as- as the other time. I had a horrible flashback to that moment, and when you snapped me out of it, and you and the doc tried to ask if I was okay, I heard that monster's laughter."_ He flinches, as if mentioning him will summon him. When nothing happens for a moment, he continues, _"I ran inside in fear. I stupidly thought if I covered the wound he would leave me alone. After I put a band-aid on it, I looked in the mirror and saw that I was crying blood. I rubbed my eyes, then- then there he was. Smirking and laughing at me. He traced two lines like this,"_ He runs his finger along his face where Anti drew a lopsided grin on his own face, _"And mouthed one word."_

"What did he say?" Jack watched the other with bated breath, waiting for his answer. He would be lying if he said he wasn't scared, but he had to be brave. If not for himself, then for Jameson.

The ego swallows,  _"S̕m̵į͠l̸̨e̸.͜"_ The demon's voice echoes through his head instead of Jameson's, causing Jack to fall backwards off the bed in shock. He shakes as he pushes himself back onto the bed. The two stare at each other, wondering how the hell that happened.  _"Wh-what was that?"_ Tears spring into his eyes.

A lump rose in his throat, "I-I don't know, Jay. I don't know."


	3. Chapter 3

Henrik always hated waking up after Marvin spelled him to sleep. It made him way too groggy, and even coffee didn’t help him shake the fuzzyness. Although, that didn’t stop him from downing two cups in the first ten minutes he sat with the others in the kitchen. He’d been told that Jack had gone to check on Jameson a little while before he’d woken. 

Marvin and Jackie were quietly discussing something. Annoyingly, the magician had spelled them to make their conversation unintelligible to anyone but them. Their gibberish drifted throughout the room as the only source of noise. 

Halfway through his third cup of coffee, Jack entered the room pale as a sheet. He slid into the chair next to Signe. Everyone looked at him expectantly. “What happened?” Chase asks.

Jack told them Jameson's story. Henrik couldn't help but feel empathetic towards the youngest ego since he’d also been a target for the glitch. “Apparently, he said something to him.” Jack paused.

“Said something?” Jackie echoed, urging their creator on. “What?”

Jack shuddered, “Just: ‘Smile’” Henrik gripped his coffee mug tightly, an unwanted memory drifting into thought. He tried to suppress it, but it pushed through anyway.

 _Anti stood over the doctor, grinning at the new marks that he had carved into his face. “No͏w th̵en. ͞D͡ơn’͝t̕ ҉you̸ ̕loo͜k ̛muc̀h ͏ha͏pp͝i҉er ĺi͝ke҉ ̕t̵ha̧t?”_ _Henrik didn’t respond. He wanted to resist like he hadn’t in the past. He had to resist. But there wasn't anything to fight for anymore. Any plan he had of escaping had been thrown out the window as soon as Anti stepped into the room earlier that morning. The demon smirked, “Ar͏e ̛y͠ou͢ f͘i̸nally̛ learn͘i̢n͟g ̕your ҉plác̵e,̧ Doct҉or̛?͏”_

_Henrik groaned. He wanted to ask something, but he didn’t bother with questions anymore. There were no answers to get. The glitch bent down and  traced his fingers along the cuts he’d just made. They ghosted along his cheeks in a pattern that reminded him of the Joker’s smile. He backed up and turned to the third person in the room. Jack was asleep against the opposite wall. His arms and legs chained with rusty cuffs. Anti tutted as he crossed the room in a few short strides. “A̵s̴l̷eep a͏ŕe we?” The glitch mused. He drove his knife into Jack’s thigh. He woke with a start, crying out in pain. Anti laughed and opened the door. He paused in the doorway, and turned back to Henrik with a knowing smile, “S̵m̕il҉e̵ ́fo̷r t̸he camera͝s, wo̸n̶’t ̛y͏ou?” The door slammed behind him._

_Crack!_ Someone’s palm smacked across his left cheek. Marvin was bent over him, looking mildly annoyed. When he saw that he had awoken, he stood and moved away, giving him space to breathe. Henrik sat up and looked around. Judging from the toppled chair, he must have fallen off when the flashback started. His heart raced, as the glitch’s voice rang in his ears. Using the table for support, he climbed back into his chair.

“You alright, doc?” Chase asked.

”Yes, yes. I am quite fine.” He winces as his voice cracks, “I must have just fainted or somesing.”

Jackie narrows his eyes, not buying his lie for a second, “Seeing as you screamed before falling back, I don’t think that was just a faint.” 

The doctor scowled, knowing there was no point in lying anymore, “Fine. I had a flashback. Not uncommon seese days.” 

“What was it about?” Marvin earns a punch to his arm from Jackie. “Hey!” He glares at the hero. The two glower at each other.

”Marvin! Jackie!” Signe cuts in, always the peacemaker. The two break their staring match and relax in their seats, fuming. 

Jack’s the one to break the tense silence that follows, “So what does ‘smile’ mean?  It has to be something important.”

Henrik swallows, “I do not know if zis vill be of any help, but I do know somesing.” He meets Jack’s eyes and nods ever so slightly. He nods back, understanding. Henrik gathered all the courage he could muster and spoke. He told the others what he had seen in his flashback, only leaving out the part where Anti had stabbed Jack in the leg to wake him. 

“‘Smile for the camera’, huh...” Signe mused.

”Cameras” Marvin corrects, putting emphasis on the “s”.

“Jackie?” Jack asks. The hero snaps out of his thoughts with a troubled look on his face, “What’s on your mind?”

”Nothing it’s just-“ He buries his face in his hands and moans, “I’m so stupid. I should have realized this so much sooner.” 

“Vat?” Henrik asks.

Jackie raises his head slightly, “Do you remember the Puppet Master?” Henrik realizing what he’s referring to. The Puppet Master was Jackieboy Man’s first archnemesis. He’d appeared the December after the hero was created. With an army of small, crocheted puppets, he tried to storm London to attack the Queen. Thanks to Jackie, and a little help from the Silver Shepherd, he disnt get very far. “I never realized...” He groans and runs a hand through his already messy hair. “There’s no was that can be a coincidence. He had to be related to Anti in some way.”

“Zee Puppet Master vas a puppet himself?” Henrik concludes.

Jackie nods, “That’s what I’m thinking. Probably used to spy on us.”

“What does this have to do about ‘smile for the cameras’ though?” Marvin crossed his arms.

“While I was tracking him, I noticed that he seemed to frequent multiple restaurants. So I hid small little cameras in each one, hoping to catch him. I called it  _Operation: Smile for the Cameras._ ” Jackie frowns, deep in thought, “But I put all then cameras away in my lab, and haven’t used them since. But...” He jumps up and races out of the room. Henrik pushes to his feet and follows him. The door to Jackie’s workroom down the hall is wide open. He tentatively takes a step inside. Jackie is running all over the messy room, digging through drawers and piles of scraps. Marvin and Jack crowd behind Henrik in the doorway.

“Geez! This place is a dump.” Marvin steps over a pile of blueprints. “How do you find anything in here.”

“I appearently,” Jackie grunts he heaved a large piece of metal away from a cabinet. “Don’t.” He threw open the bottom drawer and smiled, “Here we are.” He produced a small, hand held device and presses a button. The screen flashes to life, illuminating his face in a soft glow. He scrunched his face up and presses a few more buttons. Reaching back into the drawer, he pulls out a handful of tiny, black spheres.

Henrik crosses the room, stumbling more than a few times over small piles of junk on the floor. He looks at the device in Jackie’s hands “Vat is zat?” The hero doesn’t give an answer just shoves the small spheres at him and slides into his computer chair. He hooks the device to his computer. A grid pattern of a house- their house- shows on the screen. Small red dots blink in various places around the grid. Jackie cursed softly and typed a code in. His fingers flying over the keyboard. A message pops up on the screen, but before he can read it, it’s disappeared. Jackie caught it though and swears colorfully. He tries again, but the message shows before he can finish.

Marvin leans against the table, “What is this?” 

“The device I used to track all of the cameras I used. And as you can see,” He points to the red dots, “There are a ton around the house. I didn’t put them there.”

“No one said you did.” Jack assured him, shooting a look at Marvin before he can say anything. “Can you get rid of them?”

“That’s the problem. If you try to remove them without a code then they’ll trigger all of the cameras to explode.” Jackie bites his lip, “I deleted all of the information off their systems after I was done with them. There is no code anymore.” A heavy silence falls.

“I could absorb the blow...” Marvin’s voice is so soft it could be mistaken for the wind. They all turn to look at him.

"Marv, how zee hell are you going to do zat?" Henrik asks.

Marvin straightens his back, "I know a spell that can be used to harden your entire body, making it basically impenetrable. If I used that, we could disassemble the cameras and not worry about blowing the house up."

Jackie rubs his chin, "That... that could work. But are you strong enough to do that after earlier?"

"Give me an hour and a few more cups of coffee and I'll be good." He shrugs. 

"I can get the others out while you work so if something does go wrong we don't have everyone getting hurt." Jack offers. Jackie nods, agreeing to the plan. He then turns to Marvin and starts explaining how to disassemble the cameras.

Henrik takes this as his cue to leave. He had to work a shift in about an hour and can't afford to be late. He exits Jackie's workroom and heads up to his bedroom to change. As he passes the kitchen, he notices that Signe and Chase are still sitting at the table talking quietly. He elects not to bother them. One of the others will fill them in. He enters his bedroom and changes out of his pajamas into work clothes. A heaviness drags at his heart. After months of silence, Anti was showing his face again. He curses himself for believing that they were safe. He meets his own eyes in the mirror. They're familiar, entirely his own. He wasn't sure what else he was expecting. The clock on his nightstand reads 5:26. His shift starts at 6. _Best to leave now I guess._ He thinks to himself. Grabbing his jacket, he heads out the door and into the awaiting world of uncertainties.


	4. Chapter 4

Disassembling a whole lot of small bombs was a lot harder than Jackie would have liked it to be. Even with Marvin’s spell, they could still do some serious damage to the house if he wasn’t careful. They started with the camera in Jackie’s workroom. Mainly because it was the closest, but also because the room was the least vulnerable as it was made to withstand explosions. Marvin had to float himself up to the ceiling while Jackie shouted instructions from below. It took a long, painstaking hour to do it correctly, but they managed to remove it without even setting it off. At least until they set it down on the floor. The blast threw Jackie and Marvin into the wall. Piles of junk flew into the air, raining down scraps of metal and paper. They both groaned, more in defeat than pain. This was going to be a lot more difficult than planned.

They made their way around the house, working at a snails pace. They thoroughly checked each room. Marvin took down each privacy spell on the bedroom doors so they could enter. When they entered Jackie's room, the tracker beeped indicating that there was a camera somewhere in the room. They found it tucked in the back corner of the ceiling where it had a good view of everything. Jackie was more than unsettled that he was the only one with a camera in his room, but he pushed his curiosity back to focus on the task at hand.

The last room they did was the kitchen. The camera here was almost impossible to find as it was hidden behind one of Signe’s larger houseplants. It was the easiest to get out, since they had removed almost fifteen before that. Even though he was pretty sure the magician knew what to do, Jackie still talked him through each step. Marvin didn’t protest, which wasn’t normal for him, but he assumed he was just too tired from using his magic all day. After the camera had exploded in Marvin’s hands, the magician collapsed to the tiled floor and rested his head against the cabinets. He was out like a light almost immediately. Jackie sent a quick text to Jack to let him know that they were finished. Moving Marvin to a more comfortable place for him to rest was difficult. Without his suit to compensate, Jackie could hardly lift a chair, and since Marvin was somehow taller than the rest of them, he was also heavier. He managed to drag him to the couch and set him up comfortably there. He flopped back against the armchair and drew in a long breath.

Marvin was calm, a rare sight for him. The magician always seemed to be bouncing around one place to another, doing anything and everything. If he’d gotten anything from Jack beside his looks, it was the man’s energy. The magic show he’d created was a testament to that, full of dangerous tricks and stunts. It was a hit with the locals and he got outstanding reviews from critics. They all wondered how such feats were possible. Of course, the magician never revealed his secrets.

A buzz at his side shakes him out of his daze. He fumbled with his phone as he pulls it out of his pocket. Chase’s contact name,  _dude bro,_ lights up the screen. Jackie hits the answer button, and holds the phone to his face. “Hello?”

”Hey, uh...” Chase clears his throat, “You guys done?” 

“Yeah, we just finished a few minutes ago. Did Jack not get my text?” Jackie stands up, stretching his free arm into the air.

”Oh, no, he did. I’m not sure why I asked that really. But listen, I’ve got a question. Well, it’s actually more like Jameson has a question, but since he can't really-”

Jackie cuts him off, not in the mood for his rambling. “What's the question, Chase.” 

”Okay, so... Why _did_ you put the cameras up?”

He raises an eyebrow, “I-I didn’t. Did no one tell you that?”

“No, Jack did. But Jameson says he remembers watching you put them up one day. He can’t remember when, though.” Chase suddenly sounds wary. He’s not stupid, and he knows there’s no reason for Jameson to lie about what he saw. Jackie’s conflicting story probably wasn’t helping either. "Oh, he said it was sometime, like, end of May-ish."

“I didn’t put them up.” He says, not sure if he's trying to convince Chase or himself.

Chase pulls the phone away, “Say that again, Jamie.” He leans back in, “He says that you _were_ bit off those few days.” Jack says something in the background, “Hang on, Jack has a question... He wants to know if you can access the footage from the cameras?”

Jackie pinches the bridge of his nose. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed and sleep for a day or two. The craziness of the past two days was weighing on him. He sighs, “I can check. I don’t know if I’ll be able to access it since all the cameras were destroyed.” 

“Okay. I’ll let him know. See you later.” Chase hangs up before he can say goodbye. His feet burn as he makes his way to his workroom, sore from standing all day, and he groans as he stands up. It takes him a minute to log into the computer, and another two to activate the program. A few more clicks and the screen shows a four by four of squares, each staticky with an OFFLINE message in each. Small, white writing in the top left corner of each box tells where each camera was located, from the kitchen to the front yard. He accesses the saved footage, and is thankful to find that none of it is corrupted. Rewinding the videos is slow. He pours himself a cup of coffee, seeing that he might be here a while. After almost ten minutes, the footage is back at the beginning. He hits play.

The first one to show a picture is the camera in his own bedroom. It’s blurry at first, but as it focuses he can begin make out a familiar face. It stares blankly into the camera, the eyes almost lifeless. The hair is still a bright green, but there’s no mistaking who it is. It’s Jackie himself. The hero watches with a rapt fear as the other cameras are activated. Each one showing the same thing as the first: his blurry face slowly coming into focus, with dead eyes and a lifeless smile.

Eventually, it becomes too much to bear. He dashes from the room and into the nearest bathroom, hardly making it to the toilet before he vomits. His head spins, not wanting to believe what he’s just seen. That was _him_ in the video, there’s no mistaking it. But there was something more wrong about it than his forgotten memory. The realization crashes down, and he dry heaves, more bile threatening to spew out. He moans and rests his head against the cool porcelain of the toilet. That may have been his body, but that most definitely wasn’t him controlling it. 


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a long time since Chase had actually left the house and done anything with his newfound family, so he didn't mind having to leave for the day. Although the circumstances weren’t exactly ideal. It was gorgeous, not blisteringly hot like the day before. He, Jack, Signe, and Jameson spent most of the day wandering around town. They found a little bookshop that sold tons of books from the early 1900s and Jameson was ecstatic. He could have spent all day talking to the owner about Ernst Hemingway or Upton Sinclair. None of the others made any move to stop him. After the horrors of the day before, he deserved a distraction. He bought a few first editions and left the shop looking happier than Chase had ever seen him. 

After the bookstore, they found themselves in a thrift shop. They spent a good hour wandering the store. Jack and Signe found a small frog statue that they planned to surprise Jackie with for his birthday. Chase bought a dull, green scarf. Not that he would be wearing it anytime soon, but he liked it. After that was lunch, then the beach. Closing his eyes and laying back on the oddly comfortable rocks, Chase felt more at peace than he had been in a long time. Waves crashed onto the rocky shore, seagulls cawed overhead, and a soft breeze blew in from the sea. He spun the metal bracelet around his wrist, a gesture that helped clear his mind. Before Chase was even an idea, Marvin had enchanted bracelets for them so if they wanted to go outside, they wouldn't be recognized as Jack, or if they wanted to go out as a group. The egos, Jack, and Signe would be able to see through the glamour spell, but anyone else would just see them as different people.

 _"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?"_ Jameson's telepathic voice startles him slightly. 

Chase nods and opens his eyes, "Yeah..." The younger ego stares out at what seems like the edge of the world. His mouth smiles softly, but his eyes betray his true feelings. Chase sits up and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jameson barely glances at the hand, before he returned his gaze to the ocean. He removed his hat and fiddled with the brim.Even through such little communication, Chase had a good idea of what he was thinking about. For as young as Jameson was, he'd seen and been through more than most. Even before Anti had attacked him, there were traumatic moments in his life. He never spoke of them in detail, only referenced them occasionally. The only bit he'd even gotten was that Jameson had lived by the ocean, and he wondered if this reminded him of his old home. Chase didn't want to push him to speak about it, but there was a burning curiosity in the back of his mind. He suppressed it and turned his attention back to the crashing waves of the sea.

Their relaxation was cut short when Jack approached them and announced that Jackie and Marvin were finished. They gathered their belongings and started the trek home. The streets of Brighton were quiet. Not many people were out in the middle of a Wednesday. Signe and Jack led the way, talking about nothing, but laughing nonetheless. Chase silently envied their bond. The bond he could never have with the woman he loved. He clenched his fist and drowned the insecurities in the depths of his mind.

Jameson started jabbering, something about a movie he'd seen recently. Chase just let him talk, hardly listening. He soon moved off the subject of the movie, and was blabbering about something that he didn't bother to try to understand. Until he said something that caught his attention. "Wait, say that again." He snapped to head to look at him.

 _"I said I was confused as to why Jackie even put cameras up in the first place."_ Jameson scratches his chin.

Chase raises an eyebrow, "Didn't he say that he _didn't_ put them up?"

Jameson nods, _"That's what he said, but I just assumed he'd forgotten. Somehow. I'd forgotten to ask him as well, I suppose."_

Dread pools in Chase's chest. Something was very wrong about this. He called for Jack and Signe to stop and had Jameson explain to them what he'd told him. Judging by the looks on their faces, they seem to share Chase's feelings. He pulled out his phone and called Jackie. After he'd told him what Jameson said, the hero seemed to be just as confused. After he'd hung up to let Jackie check the footage, a heavy silence fell over the quartet. 

Jack bit his lip, "Let's get home." He motions for the others to follow him. They fall into a strange diamond formation with Jack leading and Jameson trailing not far behind Chase and Signe.

Not a few minutes later, Jameson stops in his tracks. They turn to look at him, "Jamie? Are you okay?" Chase asks.

He whips his head to look at him, _"I just had the most horrible thought."_ His hand shoots out and grips Chase's forearm, _"What if the footage from these cameras is like the Overnight Watch?"_

Everything seems to stop, "Oh shit..." He whispers, swallowing the growing lump in his throat. It was a perfectly reasonable theory. If Anti had taken control of the cameras, who knows what happened to their footage.

"Overnight Watch? What the hell is that?" Jack asks, but Chase is already sprinting past him, dragging Jameson behind. They'd gotten more than they'd bargained for that night. Jameson, Marvin, and Chase watched, physically unable to look away for almost twelve hours. They waited, along with hundreds of others from the community, for a clue to what was happening. By the time it was over, sanity was questioned and none of them would ever hear _Silent Night_ the same again.

In Chase's opinion, it took them way too long to get home, even though it was ten minutes at most. Through shaky hands, he pulled his keys out. He fumbled trying to get it into the lock. Once the door was unlocked, he burst into the house and threw his bag down. Chase sprinted down the hall towards Jackie's workroom. In his stupor, he didn't notice the person in the middle of the hallway. He collided with them and they went tumbling to the ground. Chase groaned as his head cracked against the floor. Suddenly, he hated hard wood floors. 

"Chase? Vat has you in such a hurry?" He rubs his head, vision clearing to show Henrik's confused face.

He pushes past the doctor, "Jackie could be in trouble. I've got to get to him."

Henrik grabs his shoulder to stop him, "I already sent him to bed. He vas throwing up ven I got home."

 _"Throwing up? I guess that dismisses the Watch theory."_ Jameson breaths a sigh of relief as he comes up from behind. The doctor looks confused, but decides not to ask. _" Is he alright? Other than the vomiting?"_

"I vas just about to go see vat is up ven Chase knocked us down." Henrik's poor attempt at a joke falls flat. "I'll let you know ven I am done."

Chase thanks the doctor as he heads up to Jackie's room. He exchanges a look with Jameson and the two of them push open the door to the workroom. It's just as cluttered as he remembers it. Books are scattered across the floor, scraps of metal and paper pile up haphazardly. A dark scorch mark on the concrete floor shows that they must have had an accident with one of the cameras. He crosses the room to the desk where the monitor shows the sixteen cameras around the house. He clicks the rewind button on screen and watches as the footage rolls backwards. At the bottom of the screen, the date and time shows in white, block letters: May 4, 2018; 11:34 AM. A little over one year ago.  _“Hm, I suppose it was not late May like I thought.”_ Jameson muses quietly.

Footsteps and heavy breathing alert of Jack and Signe's arrival. They don't say anything, just watch as the footage plays. Jackie's face shows in each screen, blank and unnerving. His eyes hold no light, like a reanimated corpse. His movement is almost robotic, as if he'd not in control of his own body. If this is what he saw, Chase doesn't blame Jackie for getting sick. Jack lightly rests his fingers on the date, “Four days before I woke up...” he murmurs. 

In one camera, Jackie stops and looks behind him for a moment. _"I believe that's when I asked him what he was doing."_ Jameson comments, _"He never did answer..."_

"Wait hold on... where were Signe, Marvin, and I during this?" Chase asks, realizing that he had no idea why Jameson and Jackie were the only ones home.

Jameson answers without hesitating, obviously having thought about it beforehand,  _"I believe you were visiting your children in Ireland, Marvin was away doing a show in France, and Signe...”_ He paused, “ _Probably with Jack.”_

That sounded about right, now that Chase thought about the time it happened. That particular trip had ended with him being kicked out of Stacy’s house. He was pretty sure she tried to get a restraining order against him afterwards. Not that he’d done anything, she just hated him that much. He hadn’t been back since. Although, he’d come home early and found Henrik back and Jack awake, so he didn’t really mind.

Henrik entered the room. “Vell, I’m sure you vill be happy to know Jackie is alright. He just had quite zee shock.”

”I don’t blame him.” Signe shakes her head. “This couldn’t have been easy for him to see.”

”It’s not any easier for any of us, either.” Chase adds. Henrik stands behind his right shoulder, watching the computer screen. 

“Four days before...” He notices the date, “‘Smile for the cameras’...” His voice is hardly more that a whisper, “I sink zat vas two days before...”

Two days before he escaped. Two days before Jack woke from his coma. Two days before they left behind the prison that trapped Henrik for almost a year, and Jack for almost two. Chase couldn’t hardly imagine what it would be like to be harassed by the demon for more an hour, let alone months. 

They watched almost ten minutes more of the footage before Signe shut it off. Her face tells all they need to know. The normally calm, collected woman fumes as she hits the computer’s power button. “I think that’s enough.” She tightens her jaw.. She meets her boyfriend’s eyes, and says something he would never have imagined her to be the first to say. “We need to put a stop to this, once and for all.” 


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a few days since Jackie and Marvin disabled the cameras, and things were a bit shaky, but life was back to normal. Chase and Sean switched off filming videos and live-streaming, Jackie ran patrols throughout the city, Henrik worked his hospital shifts, Marvin performed his show, and Jameson planned a short film he wanted to make. But something wasn’t sitting right with Signe. She was still on edge after everything, and the nightmares that kept her awake weren’t helping. 

"Signe!" The call jolts her back into reality. She blinks rapidly.

Chase and Jameson stand in front of her, both looking very distressed. The younger ego bends down and rests the back of his hand on her forehead, _"You do not feel feverish, but maybe you should let Dr. Schneeplestien take a look at you."_

"I-I'm fine." Signe shakes her head and sits up a little straighter, "I must have just dozed off or something..."

Chase raises an eyebrow, "Sitting straight up with your eyes open?"

She sees the cracks in her excuse, "Maybe..."

Chase frowns, "Are you sure you're alright? You've seemed... off recently." 

"I appreciate the concern you two, but I just haven't slept well the past few days. I'm okay." She stands and ruffles Jameson's already messy hair. He huffs and bats her hand away. 

Sean enters the living room, a mug of coffee in his hand. He'd been streaming later than normal, but his eyes still shone brightly. She silently envied his eternal energy. "Oh, hey guys."

 _"Ah Jack. Could you please tell Signe that she needs to get some sleep? She's hardly slept at all these past few days."_ Jameson shoots her a look, reminding her of her father. Sometimes she forgets he's older than he seems. 

"Normally she's the one telling me that." He chuckles, then grows serious. "But seriously, I've noticed that too." 

Signe clenches a fist, "I'm fine. I swear." Chase opens his mouth to protest, but she spins on her heel and stalks out of the room before he can speak. She's not entirely sure where her feet are leading her until she opens the sliding glass door and steps out onto the deck. The cool night air washes over her as she leans against the railing, the soft wood biting into her bare feet. It's quiet, as it normally is at night. She's thankful for the peace. In the quiet, she can imagine that everyone is safe and there's no danger waiting just around the corner.

To her dismay, the door behind her opens. She doesn't have to look to know who followed her outside. Sean rests a gentle hand on her shoulder. It's a warm and familiar, but she shrugs it off and immediately regrets it. If he's offended, he doesn't show it. Or at least doesn't vocalize it, she can't see his face.

"You can talk to me, you know..." Sean says, only a little more than a whisper.

She exhales. "I know..."

They look at each other for a moment before Signe averts her gaze. Sean sighs, "Talk to me, Signe... I want to help you."

She bites her lip. Where to start? Does she tell him about the nightmares? _No_ , she decides. He would just worry more then. He already had so much on his shoulders: keeping up with his channel, fighting his trauma from his coma, and the egos looked up to him for guidance, and he never allowed himself to break in front of them. She elects on asking him a question instead, "Does it bother you? Having so much to worry about all the time."

"This- this isn't about me." 

"We'll trade, you answer my question, and I'll answer yours." 

He sighs, seeing there's no way out of this. "Yeah, all the time. But there are more important things than my comfort sometimes." He looks at his hands, "I just want this to be over so we all live in peace..."

She couldn't blame him for that. The demon's antics were getting to everyone. She lightly grabs his wrist in an attempt to comfort him. He flinches, but doesn't pull away. She retracts her hand instead, mumbling an apology. Sean's triggers included things around his wrists and ankles. Anti had kept him chained up in manacles for the entire time he was trapped in his own mind. When he woke from his coma, the doctors couldn't even keep the hospital band on him. They also included anything that could be considered sharp. Knives, scissors, even staples and splinters. He couldn't stand to even look at them. 

"I guess it's my turn then." She says.

Sean nods, "What's been bothering you recently?"

She squeezes her eyes shut, "I've been having this... nightmare.

"Every night, I'm in the same cold, concrete room. It's empty except for small windows high on each wall and a single flickering light bulb in the ceiling. I'm be alone for what seemed like hours, calling for help that I somehow know is never coming. Then, the light bulb burns out, or is shut off, I don't know. A whisper echos through the room. It bounces off the walls. The voice grows louder and louder, yet it stays unintelligible. I cover my ears to block out the noise, but it only muffles it slightly. A door I don't know is there slams open and a green light washes over the room. The whispers stop. Slowly, I uncover my ears and look towards the door. The doorway is empty. A clammy hand rests on the back of my neck. I spin around to face thin air.

"A voice calls me from the hall outside and a shadowy hand beckons me to leave the room. I step out into the hallway. Still, there is no one there. I call out, 'Hello?' 

"To my surprise, someone answers, telling me to come. They sound familiar, but I can’t place where I know the voice. I move down the hall towards the voice. It keeps speaking, but I-I can’t understand what it’s saying. I think it's a foregin language, one I've heard, but don't understand. It almost sounds like- like Gaelic. 

"After what seems like forever, I reach a turn in the hallway. I look down that hall and see a shadowy darkness collecting at the end. The voice calls out again, this time distorted and warbled, again saying 'Come..'

"I don't want to go down the hall, but my legs move against my will and I walk forward into the growing darkness. One by one, the overhead lights go out. I cry out, telling my body to stop. It listens. My knees buckle, sending me to the ground. I try to stand, but once again, my body won’t obey. I tug at my legs, trying to free them from whatever invisible force holds them.The darkness grows closer, now accompanied by a shadowy figure. The silhouette gracefully drifts towards me, almost like it's riding the flanking shadows. It bends down to my eye level and I finally see what it truly is."

"Anti." Sean finishes for her. She drops her head, nodding. 

In one swift movement, he pulls her into a tight embrace. She leans into his chest and hugs him back. “I’m sorry...” His voice is so quiet. “You shouldn’t have to be involved in this.”

“It’s not your fault. You never asked for any of this.” She whispers.

They stay standing there, wrapped in each other’s arms. The cool night breeze rolls over them. The only sound for miles is the distant crashing of the Atlantic waves. She finds peace in the moment. Nothing was going wrong. No one was getting hurt. Everything was fine. Everyone was going to be okay. The thoughts repeat in her head like a mantra.

Until the sound of a gunshot shoots through the silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter with themes of suicide and abusive relationships. If you are sensitive to things like this please be careful.

_BANG!_   

Jameson and almost falls off the couch, the noise waking him from a light sleep. His chest tightens as a loud  _thud_ follows the sound. Even through the fog in his brain he can tell what’s happening. Someone just got shot. Scrambling to his feet, he sprints in the direction of the sound, and is greeted with a grizzly sight.

Chase lays on the tile floor of the kitchen, blood gushing from a bullet wound in his neck. It pools around his head like a red halo. A pistol lays limp in his right hand. Questions cloud Jameson’s thoughts, overlapping each other in an effort to be heard. He shoves them all away and focuses on how to help Chase until he can get medical help. Falling to his knees, he rips his vest off carelessly, and wraps it tightly around his neck. That would help stop the blood flow, but it wouldn’t do anything to help if his airway was damaged. 

“Holy shit...” Jackie rushes into the room. “What the fuck happened here?” 

Jameson shakes his head,  _“I found him like this... He- he may have done it to himself.”_  It hurts to say, but it’s the most reasonable answer. He may not have been around when Chase attempted suicide the first time, but he definitely saw what it had done to him. If something had caused him to relapse, it wouldn’t surprise him.

Jack and Signe crowd around Chase’s body. He doesn’t seem to know where to put his hands, but settles on combing Chase’s hair away from his face. Jackie bends down and picks up the gun. He examines it for a moment, before tossing it on the table. He points at Signe, assuming his role as the leader. As the oldest ego, he took it upon himself to be in charge when things go wrong. “Henrik’s still at work. Can you call and get him here as soon as possible.” She nods and faces from the room. “Where’s Marvin? The lazy asshole.” Jackie mutters bitterly. Heaving Chase’s upper body up, he motions to Jameson and Jack to help him. They each grab onto him and carry him to Henrik’s home office. They lay him gently onto the cot in the back corner. 

A few long minutes later, Marvin teleports into the room with Henrik and the two race to Chase’s side, immediately starting to work. Signe must have gotten the magician to pick up Henrik. The doctor shoos the others from the room so they can have room to work.

Jameson slides down the wall and pulls his knees to his chest. This shouldn’t bother him. Why was this bothering him so much? He’d seen things much worse than a bullet through the neck. He’d _done_ much worse things than putting a bullet through someone’s neck. This shouldn’t bother him. He closes his eyes and buries his face in his knees. No one tries to comfort him, not that he minds. They’re all still in shock. Faintly, he can hear talking, but none of the words register. Absently, he rubs at his own neck, wishing for the working vocal cords he used to have. He wanted to scream, to cry, to make any sort of noise. But you can’t do any of that if the very things that controls your voice were destroyed.

When he started crying, he’s not sure, but he finds his cheeks soaked with tears. At first, he’s worried that they’re the bloody tears again, but a quick check assures him that they’re just normal tears. It’s a small relief.

After an hour of hanging around the door, it’s evident that Henrik and Marvin won’t be done for a while. The group migrates to the more comfortable living room. They still sit in silence, each still waning off the shock. 

Finally, Jackie speaks, “Does anyone know where Chase’s phone is?” His voice cuts through the tense silence like a knife.

“His phone?” Signe asks incredulously.

He nods, “Yeah. I want to check something.” He narrows his eyes, “There’s something off about this.”

 _”Something’s off?”_ Jameson muses sarcastically, glaring at Jackie,  _”Really? I don’t think any of noticed.”_ The others stare at him, surprised by his bitter tone. His gaze softens slightly, but doesn’t apologize.

Jackie crosses his arms, ignoring him, “So, anyone know the whereabouts of Chase’s phone?”

“Check the kitchen.” Jack offers.

The hero nods and disappears into the kitchen. A moment passes before Jackie returns with a phone in hand. He falls back onto the couch. It’s easy for him to unlock the phone, all the egos have the same fingerprints after all. Jameson wonders silently why any of them would even use that kind of password since it was so useless. Jackie scrolls through the phone before finding what he was looking for. A grim expression appears on his face. He turns the screen so the others can see.

A string of text messages from Stacy fill the screen, all saying nasty things. _You really are a worthless piece of trash._ _Stay away from me and the kids. You’re better off dead._ Chase asked her stop a few times. Jameson couldn’t bear to read the rest. Was this the reason for his actions earlier? He stole another glance at the phone to check the date. They _were_ from earlier that day. 

Jackie pulls it back and hits a few things on the screen. Satisfied, he shoves it back in his pocket. “I don’t know why he didn’t block her sooner.”

No one answers, they just mull over what they saw. Jameson fiddles with the hem of his shirt as he thinks. One question stands out in his mind: why did Chase love her in the first place? He makes a mental note to ask him later, then decides that may not be a good question to ask.

Time passes slowly after that. He drifts in and out of sleep. Memories of a life long gone fill his dreams, and he wakes up thinking he’s somewhere different each time.

Eventually, Marvin slinks into the living room. He looks tired, obviously having used his magic too much. The magician falls into the chair opposite Jameson.

“So, how is he?” Jackie asks. His voice shakes slightly.

The magician runs a hand through his hair, “He’s alive...” A collective sigh of relief runs throughout the room, “For now.” 

 _“For now?”_ Jameson asks, scared of the answer Marvin will give.

”He... lost a lot of blood. Henrik was able to give him a transplant, but he was too far under to pull him out all the way.” He’s obviously making up terms to fill in the gaps in his medical knowledge.

”What- what does that mean?” Signe asks. She and Jack hold onto each other like they’re life lines.

Marvin looks away, not wanting to say. “It means- it means that he’s in a coma, and... could possibly die.”


	8. Chapter 8

A coma.

Marvin's words reverberate through the room.

A coma.

Signe tightens her grip on Jack's hand. 

Chase is in a coma, and he could possible die

A mix of despair and anger brews in Jack's chest, but he pushes it down. He couldn't break. Not here. Not now. He echoed Marvin's words under his breath, "A coma..." It's a painful reminder of the almost two years he spent imprisoned in his own mind. He shudders at the memories, and tries his best to shove them away.

The magician casts his gaze downward, “I just wish we knew why," His voice cracks. Tears threaten to spill out from under his mask. The show of emotion surprises Jack and the others. Marvin hid his emotions rather well most of the time, masking anything he didn't want to feel with anger. He removes his mask, wipes the tears away, then places the mask back on his face.

“We may have an idea...” Jackie exchanges a look with Jack, almost like he's searching for a sort of confirmation. He pulls Chase's phone from his pocket, unlocks it, and hands the phone to Marvin.

The magician gently takes it from his hand and grunts quietly to himself as he reads the texts. A spark appears in his right hand, but he tightens his fist to extinguish it quickly. Fire burns behind his eyes as he tosses the phone back to Jackie. The hero catches it in the air gracefully. "I always knew she was a bitch." He mutters. Signe and Jackie nod in agreement.

 _"I just had a thought,"_ Every head swivels to look at Jameson. He's pale as a sheet, but his eyes are steely, ready to speak his mind,  _"What if he didn't do it."_

"What are you talking about?" Jackie gawks. "He obviously shot himself and-"

Jameson raises a hand to cut him off,  _"I meant that he might not have been in control of his body. If Anti was able to take over your mind, and you've got a lot more mental stability, then who's to say he wouldn't do the same to Chase."_ The idea weighs down like a ton of bricks. A few soft curses drift from Marvin.

Jack's chest tightens. How had he not even thought about that? It was possible, but it might not be the most likely scenario. But at the same time, Anti _was_ unpredictable. He tended to do things without warning, catching them by surprise.

"If that's the case, then we need to wake him up as soon as possible," Signe releases her death grip on Jack's hand and rests her chin on the hand. The reason hangs heavily in the air. If Anti had used him as a puppet, he most likely had the same fate Jack had almost three years before.

Jack furrows his brow, "But how do we do that?"

"I might know a way..." Jackie says, his eyes lighting up. "It's-it's how we woke you up."

He blinks in surprise, "How _I_ woke up?"

Jackie smiles softly, "Yeah. I actually tested the device on Chase about a week before I used it. Marvin put him under, and the shock woke him up."

"Huh..." Jack looks away. No one had ever told him they had helped him wake up. He'd always assumed that Anti had let Henrik and him go for a reason they didn't understand. But then again, he'd never asked. "Well then, let's do this," A smile glances over his face. 

Jackie almost jumps to his feet, as if he was waiting for Jack to give the okay. He dashes to his workroom. Nobody dares speak while he's gone. None of them want to kill the fragile hope. A few minutes later, he returns with a strange looking metal rod, a few thin, black cables, and a roll of tape. He races upstairs as fast as his feet can carry him, the hope of saving their brother energizing him. Jack stands and follows the hero into Henrik's office.

When he steps into the room, Jackie is already standing over Chase's unconscious body. He mutters to himself as he presses the cables to the father's forehead with tape. Rubber gloves are slipped over his hands to keep him protected from any stray sparks. Jack's shoulders slump as he approaches the bed, his eyes landing on the quiet form. It hurt to see the normally boisterous man so quiet, but with any luck, he'd be back to himself soon enough. This was exactly how he had looked a little over a year ago as he endured the torment in his own mind. It pains him to know that Chase could be suffering the same fate. He only hopes he's wrong. 

"Vat is going on here?" A German voice cries from the doorway. Henrik shoves through Signe and Jameson to enter the room. His hair is disheveled and eyes are rimmed red. He'd swapped his scrubs and lab coat for a more comfortable outfit. Despite the warmth, he now wears a sweatshirt and pajama pants. As he sees what Jackie is doing, he rushes to the bed, "Vat are you doing?" He yells, lunging for the comatose man.

The hero puts an arm out to stop the doctor from ruining his work, "We know a way to help him wake up, Hen." The doctor steps back and crosses his arms over his chest. He takes this as an invitation to continue, "If we give his brain a very, very tiny shock it'll stimulate his brain and hopefully help him wake up."

"Zat... could vork, but does zis device?" Henrik plucks the rod from his hand, and waves it in Jackie's face, "How do you know zis vill do vat you vant it to?"

"Because it's been used before. It helped Jack wake up." Jackie takes the rod back and returns to his work.

The doctor gapes. He looks between Jack, Chase, and the rod in Jackie's hand. Swallowing hard, he turns and joins the crowd of others, letting the hero do what he needs to. Once Jackie is finished preparing his device, he motions for the others to stand back. Marvin casts a weak shield around them for protection in case it goes horribly wrong. Jackie quietly murmurs a countdown and presses a button. Chase's body twitches slightly. A wave of pain shoots through Jack's head. He grits his teeth and tries to ignore the pain.

"Up the voltage." Marvin offers.

Jackie turns a small dial on the rod, "This is the most it can go without harming him." There's a moment of hesitation before he presses the button. Another ache rolls through Jack's head, this one stronger than the first. A soft groan unwillingly escapes his lips.

Signe eyes him curiously. Thankfully, she's the only one to note his discomfort, "You okay?" She whispers. He nods, biting his lip, and taps his head. She gets the message and softly pats his shoulder. It's only a small comfort. 

Another burst of electricity must go into Chase's head, because agony spills into Jack's head. This time, sending him to his knees. But something unexpected happens. Someone screams inside his head. A glitchy and distorted cry of pain. Anti. The thought of the demon in pain almost sends a smile to his face, but the pain in his head stops it. He raises his head and meets Jackie's eyes, "You're hurting him," The smile finally reaches his face. 

Jackie responds with a horrified look, "Shit!" He rushes to take the cables off Chase's forehead.

"Not Chase," Jack calls to stop him.

Understanding bleeds into the hero's eyes, and a faint smile passes over his face, "I didn't even know that was possible," He murmurs.

"Neither did I." Jack braces himself as another wave of pain washes over him. Anti's screams drown out any noise that he could possibly hear, but he doesn't mind. He'd spent so long screaming for him, it was time the glitch screamed for himself.

A few minutes pass, at least he thinks it's a few minutes, time seemed to slow once his head started hurting. He thinks he hears talking, but it could just be the ringing in his ears. Standing doesn't seem to be an option as his head spins a mile a minute and doesn't seem to be slowing anytime soon. Instead, he backs against the wall, leaning his head back. It's not long before exhaustion consumes him and he falls into the depths of sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

The Electricon had worked it’s magic again. Chase’s eyes flew open after the final shock and immediately started choking on the tubes down his throat. Luckily, Henrik was by his side before anyone else could even react, carefully removing the wires and tubes from his body. A soft burst of relieved laughter came from Signe. Marvin and Jackie echoed the sentiment through soft smiles.

When all the cables of the Electricon and the vital tubes were removed, Chase laughed softly as well. It was quickly reduced to coughing, and a painful look passed over his face. Jameson crosses the room to stand next to the bed. He says something to Chase, a private thought only heard by them. Chase tilts his head down, hiding his face in shame. The doctor places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t me,” he murmurs, almost inaudible. His voice breaks as he repeats it, “It wasn’t me.”

”Vee know, Chase. Vee know,” Henrik removes his hand and glances over to where Jack is slumped against the wall. The doctor shakes his head slightly, “Someone should vake him up.” 

Marvin nods and clicks his fingers at the sleeping man. He doesn’t respond for a moment, making Jackie question if the magician did anything at all. But after a moment, Jack’s head raises and his eyes blink open showing two bright green eyes.

Green. Not blue. Not the soft, baby blue that they should be.  _Green._

Jackie tightened his grip on the rod in his hands, ready to use it as a weapon if necessary. The green eyed man stands slowly. His mouth curls into a twisted, but unfortunately familiar, smile. Henrik inhales sharply, almost falling onto the bed behind him. Jameson steps between Signe and the obviously possessed Jack. His hand strays to his hip as if feeling for something that isn’t there. Jackie clenches his jaw. He would fight if necessary, but he would rather it not come down to that.

“You really thought it would be that easy?” Jack sneers, taking a step towards them.

Jackie shudders. It wasn’t Anti’s voice, but hearing him talk through Jack was just as unsettling.

Anti opens his arms to show off the knife in his hand. When he’d gotten that, Jackie didn’t know. “It’s almost sad that a group of such smart people could be so dumb.”

To his surprise, and chagrin, Signe steps around Jameson to face him. “What the hell do you want, Anti?” She snarls. 

“Signe...” Chase mutters weakly. A warning. They didn’t know if he would hurt her or not yet, and none of them wanted to risk it.

Anti ignores Signe and locks his gaze on him, “Shame you woke up so soon, Brody. I would have liked playing with you some more.”

The father looks away, obviously remembering whatever it was that the demon had done to him while he was asleep. Judging from his expression, and what he knew about Anti, Jackie could only guess that it wasn’t pleasant.

Marvin steps forward next, shielding Henrik and Chase with his body. “Let him go,” He growls. 

This seems to catch the demon off guard. His eyes widen for a split second, but he quickly regains his composure. “ _Tsk, tsk._  How ironic that it’s you saying that.”

Jackie’s breath catches in his throat. What the hell did he mean by that? 

“I guess I’ll just have to tighten your strings.”

Thin green cords appear from nowhere and wrap around Marvin. They hug around his ankles and wrists, then snake their way up to his throat. His eyes glow a soft green. He tried to free himself, but tugging at the cords just seemed to make them tighter. Fear flashes behind the magician’s eyes. The cords and green glow of his eyes fade slowly, leaving Marvin staring blankly.

”Vaht- vaht did you do to him?” Henrik choaks out, stronger than Jackie would have expected him to be. After so long of being in the dark, of being scared, he was finally facing his fears.

The demon just laughs. His eyes glow softly as Jack’s body falls limply to the ground. Signe practically dives to his side. She grabs his wrist to check his pulse. The exhale of relief she gives if more than answer enough to the question. Jack was okay.

Marvin flexes his hands, “This puppet is much better. He’s not as noisy. At least one of you has learned your place.” Anti lurches towards Jameson, knife extended, sending him scrambling backwards. “You’re even more pitiful than I remember, Jackson. At least when we first met you still had some fight left in you.”

 _”I can assure you, it’s not all gone.”_ Jameson’s hand moves to his hip again. His lips move in a silent curse as he finds nothing there.

”Not so deadly without a gun?” Anti jeers. 

Jameson has no retort for that. His eyes flick away for a moment, the only sign of the fear Jackie knows is bubbling inside him.  _“Leave us alone.”_ It’s an order. An order that Anti has no idea of listening to.

“Funny. Those were her last words too.” Jackie’s heart stops. He had no idea  _who_ the glitch was referring to, but the “too” at the end was not sitting right with him. Was it Anti’s plan to kill Jameson? “I suppose like husband, like wife.”

_Oh._

Jameson bristles, “ _Leave her out of this.”_

Anti laughs in response. He brushes the magician’s long hair from his face, “Oh, did I strike a nerve? Would you like to know what your son’s last words were as well?”

Jameson pulls a gun from nowhere and marches up to the glitch, “ _Don’t you dare talk about them like that.”_

”Holy shit,” Jackie whispers. This was news to him, and from the looks on everyone else’s faces, it was news to them too. Jameson had never mentioned his family, he hardly even spoke of his past. If anything, he had the most secrets out of all the egos. 

He wasn’t sure what the demon was planning, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good. There had to be some way to stop him. Even if it’s just for now.

An idea sparks into his head. He looks down at the Electricon in his hand. Jack said that it had  _hurt_ him while he was using it on Chase. Would it do the same while he was possessing Marvin? There was only one way to find out. 

He moved closer to the demon who was now arguing with Signe as well as Jameson. All of them looked like they were ready to actually throw a punch, or, in Anti’s case, a knife. It was easy to sneak up behind him, but he made sure to keep his distance in case the glitch decided to turn around. The Electricon could go much higher than the what he had used on Jack and Chase. Why he’d done that, he wasn’t sure, but it seemed that the high settings would be coming in handy. He twisted the dial to the second highest setting, grabbed ahold of a dangling cable, and lunged in. The cables stuck onto his neck with leftover tape.  _Sorry Marvin,_ he thinks, and presses the button down.

The glitch shrieks. He twists around trying to rip the cables from his neck, but only grabs the air around him. The electricity causes his to muscles to seize and he shakes almost like he’s having a seizure. They watch in with a morbid horror as Marvin’s body contorts in ways it shouldn’t.

Then, it’s quiet. He drops to the ground like a rag doll, his clothes smoking slightly. No one moves towards him. Jackie stared down at his friend. What had he done? Had he made the right choice?

Henrik leaps up first, falling to his knees next to him. A touch on the wrist tells him everything he needs to know.


	10. Chapter 10

Henrik's head was spinning ten miles an minute. So much had happened in just the last few hours that it was tough to wrap his head around it. First, when Chase was brought to his clinic, he didn't expect him to survive the operation. He'd lost a lot of blood and even with Marvin casting spells that should have helped him, they didn't do too much. Thankfully, he did live, even if he was in a coma. It was painful seeing Chase in the same scenario as Jack, but he managed to through it. After the surgery, the doctor had retreated back to his bedroom to change and cry.

When he had heard commotion outside a little while later, he poked his head out the door to see what was happening. The others were crowded in his office whispering to each other. Curiosity got the best of him and he barged in. He was more than surprised to learn that they knew a way to wake Chase, and even more shocked to learn that it was the same way Jack had woken up. He’d given Jackie the okay to do it, knowing they would never intentionally hurt Chase. Plus, it sounded like it might work. Jack's sudden headache during the procedure worried the doctor. Whatever Jackie was doing to Chase was hurting him as well. But the electricity worked, not that he was expecting it not to, but it _worked_. Chase was awake!

He was more than happy to see Chase awake again. But when Jack awoke possessed by Anti, it was more than he could bear. To come face to face with his captor for the first time in over a year was terrifying. It was a miracle that he had the courage to speak at all. Then, he switched to using Marvin as a puppet. Jameson bravely faced him. Henrik couldn't help but be stunned as he listened to their argument. The glitch knew where to bite, and the mention of Jameson's family was obviously the right way to hit a nerve. No one expected that Jameson had a wife and son at one point. Jackie managed to take Anti down with his electric rod, but now Marvin was laying on the ground, half dead. 

Henrik swooped in after a long moment, checking his pulse. It was faint, but still there. CPR was the next step he decided. Thirty rhythmic chest compression.Pinch the nose and tilt the head back. Three breaths. Repeat. All of his doctor training swarmed in his mind. There wasn't a lot for electrocution victims, most of the time they would be fine or they were already dead. But he was not about to let Marvin die. 

Jackie stood over them the entire time, watching with guilt written all over his face. He must feel awful knowing that he caused him to be in this state, "Come on, Marv," He whispered. This was the fifth time he'd said it, but if that's what would it would take to calm him, Henrik wouldn't stop him.

The doctor echoed the sentiment, "Vake up, buddy. Please," He pleads between compressions. Another round of chest compressions and breaths. That made two. It wasn't uncommon to have to do multiple rounds, but with each passing minute a little bit of his hope faded. Three rounds, then four. By the fifth he was exhausted, and ready to give up. But between compression fourteen and fifteen, Marvin inhaled deeply. Henrik fell backwards, resting himself on his hands. The magician opens his grey eyes and Jackie helps him sit up. His mask had fallen off when he'd collapsed earlier and Henrik takes it in his hands. He absently runs his thumb over the drawings on the forehead. Silently, he thanks whatever God or Gods watching for saving him.

Jameson and Singe were helping Jack stand. He leaned heavily on them, shaken by being possessed and the headaches prior to that. Fear clouded in his blue eyes, but seeing Marvin upright and breathing seemed to calm him slightly. He takes a shaky step towards them, but his legs give out. Luckily, Jameson catches him under his arms before he can hit the floor and hauls him up.

Marvin coughed into his elbow, "Ugh..." He blinks his eyes. His head swivels around as he takes in everything. A loud sigh escapes his lips. "Well shit."

"What?" Jackie sits in front of him. "We're all okay... In a sense." He bites his bottom lip.

The magician shakes his head, "It's not that, Jackie." A soft smile glances over his face. He raises his cloudy, gray eyes and looks at him the best he could. "The accident must have left me blind," He mutters offhandedly.

"You're blind?" Henrik echoes. A lump rose in his throat. He should have expected that. Why hadn't he realized that before? He looks down at the mask in his hands and presses into Marvin's chest. "Here. I'm sure you vant zis."

Marvin takes it but doesn't put it on. He traces the edge of it, as if trying to picture the shape in his head. The mask is set next to him and a sigh escapes his lips. 

Chase clears his throat and opens his mouth to speak. Henrik stops him immediately, "Rest your throat, Chase." The father grudgingly sits back in his bed, scowling. 

 _"It is quite good to see you back to yourself, Marvin."_ Jameson says approaching the group. Jack had finally found his balance and Signe was filling him in on what happened after he passed out. He looked rightfully worried.

The magician exhales sharply, amusement shines in his eyes, "You have no idea how true that is." He turns his gaze up, trying to find the mute man, but without being able to actually hear his voice, he looks right past him. If Jameson minds, he doesn't show it.

"What do you mean?" Jackie asks, resting a hand on his shoulder. The two had always been closest to each other. Most likely because they were the oldest and had been the only two egos in existence for a little while.

Marvin sighs shrugging his hand off, "Anti had me in his control for a lot longer than those few minutes." He tilts his head down, looking at his hands. A shudder runs through his torso. "I've been that demon's puppet for almost three years. Ever since that damn stage light fell on me, he's been in control."

Before Marvin had started his own show, the magician worked as a stage manager for a theater. One day, there was an accident, and a stage light fell right onto his head. He had needed over fifty stitches to sew the cuts together. Nasty scars now crisscrossed his forehead and nose. Henrik remembered telling him that he was lucky that he wasn't blind. Seems like he wasn't so lucky after all. It was also around that time when he'd realized his talent for magic. 

"All of his power was concentrated in the mask." He gestures to the cat face next to him, "He'd also enchanted it so that it acted as his eyes. I could only watch as he piloted my body around. I managed to break free for the first time earlier. Even if it was only for a moment. I think his power weakened controlling Jack _and_ me." Marvin crosses his arms. Normally he would be angry about something like this, but what they were used to really wasn't the real Marvin anyway so it would be hard to know what was normal and what was not.

"Almost three years?" Jack bends down next to Jackie. A flicker of guilt crosses his gaze. How much of this was he blaming on himself? Sure, he'd created Anti, but he had no control over what the demon does. Jack was _not_ responsible for the pain the demon had caused them.

Henrik meets his eyes, thankful that they're back to their original baby blue. They both knew what it was like to deal with the demon for a long time. But three years? That was a long time to be puppeted around. His breath catches in his throat as he imagines that horror.

Judging by the remorseful expressions on everyone's faces, Henrik decided he needed to change the subject. "How do you feel, Marvin?" Being electrocuted was harmful to the entire body and he'd need to do a full check-up later, but for now a simple question or two would suffice.

"Frazzled, and shocked that Jackie's plan worked," A few people groan at the shitty pun. Marvin just smiles lazily. 

The doctor chuckles softly, "Does your head feel okay?" He runs his eyes over his head. Nothing seemed off on the outside, other than staticky hair, but the inside could be a different story.

He nods, "I feel okay, doc." His eyes shut and he leans back on his hands. "I'm just getting used to freedom."

Henrik couldn't argue with that. The taste of freedom after so long trapped is intoxicating. "Just... tell me if you start to feel strange."

"I will," Marvin says. He pushes himself up to his feet and stretches his arms high above his head. 

The doctor nods, pleased, "Get some rest, Marv." He points to the rest of the room, "Zat goes for all of you too."

Jackie groans and Henrik shoots him a look. The hero gives him a mock glare before standing up himself. "Come on, Marv. I'll help you out." But the magician was already walking, to the wrong side of the room nonetheless. Henrik debated telling him or letting him walk into the wall. Before he could decide, Jameson briskly walks over and turns him around. Marvin thanks him and Jackie places a hand on their brother's shoulder, leading him out of the room. Signe helps Jack up next, whispering to him as they leave.

Jameson doesn't leave. Instead, he sits next to Chase's bed,  _"You go get some rest, Doctor. You need it as much as the rest of us."_

Exhaustion was settling onto his shoulders, but _he_ was the doctor here. Wasn't he the one who needed to look over Chase, the patient? But the look on Jameson's face told him there was no arguing, so he exits through the door connecting his room to the office and collapses onto his bed. Sleep takes him almost instantly. He can only hope for no nightmares tonight.


	11. Chapter 11

It was still dark when Marvin woke. No sunlight shone through the drawn blinds over the windows. What time was it? It took a moment for his foggy brain to remember: He wasn’t going to be seeing anything other than the darkness for a while now. He sighed and tried to roll over on his side, but found that he couldn’t move. Fear seized his heart, turning his blood to ice. Why couldn't he move?

He tried flexing his fingers, but nothing moves. His heart hammered in his chest. This couldn’t be happening. He’d just gotten free! He tries again. Still nothing. _No, no._ He panics. 

A heavy weight sat itself on Marvin’s chest, sending the air flying from his lungs. ”S͠o, y̷ou ̷thoug͏ht̛ ýou̶ we͠re͟ f͜ree ̸of͟ ͠mé?͡” A distorted voice rang through his ears. It was too familiar.

 _No._ He thought. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening. The magician tried to push against the weight on his chest, but his body wouldn’t move. It stayed stiff as a board. No part of him was responsive.

“T́ḩęr͠e i҉s͜ ͘ǹo ͡e̴s̸cape̡,̡ ̡M͘a͠g̷an.̨” The voice muses. "The̴re ne͞ver͜ ͜h̨a̸s ̡b̷ee̡n͢."

Marvin’s heart stops as the glitch uses his last name. A name he hadn’t gone by in years. He wasn’t sure if any of the others even knew he had a last name.  _Leave me alone._ He tries to scream. It ends as a thought in his mind.

Anti doesn’t respond, if he even somehow heard the cry. A moment of silence passes, the only evidence that the glitch hasn’t left is the heaviness on his chest. “You͟ ͜w̡o̶n’t be͜ awa̸y fro͏m ̸m̸e̛ ̕f̕o̴r lòńg͞, ̡pup̨pet,” He chuckles and the weight releases slightly. “S̸ee͢ y̢o̸u͡ ҉sǫo̷n.͠”

The magician shoots up. The weight completely gone. He holds a hand up and feels as he curls and flexes his fingers. A wave of relief crashes onto him, replacing the fear that held him.

Sleep paralysis.

It was the most obvious explanation for the events that had just transpired. Whether it was caused by the demon or not was a different story. He leans back, knocking his head against the head board. He scowls and rubs his head. 

He pushes himself out of bed, his body clock telling him it’s around eight-thirty. An enchanted pair of slippers wait at the edge of his bed. He slides his feet into them and lets them guide him out of his room. The slippers helped him avoid bumping into things like walls and tables. He just had to think about where he wanted to go. 

The slippers lead him downstairs to the kitchen where he can hear voices conversing softly. Henrik’s German accent was easy to pick out, but the other was hard to identify. The rest of the egos, minus Jameson, and Jack all had the same voice. Because of this, if you couldn’t see who you were talking to, it was hard to tell. Marvin was beginning to pick up their different tones of speech. For example, Chase uses the words “bro” and “dude” way more than necessarily. Although, he could have told you that even if he wasn’t blind. Either way, Chase was still on bed rest so he couldn’t be here anyway.

He entered the kitchen. Immediately someone presses a mug of coffee into his hands. 

“I figured you’d want some, and decided to save you the trouble.” Either Jack or Jackie. The two were the most similar out of all of the egos. They spoke, looked, acted, and dressed almost exactly the same. He was having trouble telling them apart.

Marvin smiled, “Thanks.” He pulled a chair out and sat down, pretending to ignore the fact that he almost missed the seat entirely. Neither of the others comment, if they even noticed his mistake. He sips nonchalantly from the coffee mug.

“Hey, Henrik,” Jack or Jackie says, “Could you leave Marvin and I alone for a moment? I wanted to talk to him about something.”

A chair slides out from under the table, “Of course, Jack,” Henrik answers. Fading footsteps tell Marvin that he’s left the room. He wonders if he said Jack's name just for him to know who he was talking to.

The chair scoots back under the table. Jack’s silent for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh. “Marv, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t make you.” The _it_   was obviously being possessed for over two years by the nightmare who had haunted all of them for such a long time.

Marvin waited for the “but” he knew was coming. 

“But I would like to know a thing or two, to help me understand Anti a bit more.”

Marvin flinched at the mention of the glitch. Inwardly, he cursed himself for being so scared. “Ask away,” he says nonchalantly, hoping the fear clutching his heart isn’t evident. His hands wrap tightly around the coffee mug in an attempt to hide the fear.

”Do- do you have any idea on why you, out of all of them, were the one he chose?”

If he said he was surprised by the question, he would be lying. He had had a long time to think about that while he was trapped in the corners of his mind. He had an answer, but he knew it would make Jack feel even more guilty than he already did. “I-I do.” 

Jack drew a deep breath, “Why?”

Marvin bites the inside of his cheek. The words stick in his throat, “Because I was the weakest out of all of us. Since I was never supposed to be a character, I was never exactly as stable as Jackie or Henrik. I didn’t have a name, or a purpose,” He pauses to collect his emotions. “Fading was a common occurrence for me, if you remember. I never faded enough to leave this plain of existence, but... but I wasn't sure how much longer it would stay that way." 

This was something he’d wanted to talk about with Jack for such a long time now. There were so many things he needed to get off his chest, many of them hurtful towards his creator. But here, in the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to say them. Yes, Jack could have done many things to help solidify Marvin’s existence, but he was young, dumb, and knew next to nothing about the strange ability he possessed. Any blame the magician had before was replaced with pity. Jack had gone through much more trauma than he could even imagine. And here he was complaining like he had the worst life ever.

“When the stage light fell on me, I found myself face to face with- with  _him._ At the time, I had no idea who he was, even though I should have. He'd already attacked you by then. He offered me stability to stay in existance, I just had to give him something. I was so desperate for anything that could help me, I agreed to the deal without even knowing what he wanted,” He shakes his head. “I was so stupid.”

“No, no. You weren’t stupid. If anyone’s stupid it’s me,” Jack places a hand on top of Marvin’s, “I decided to create a homicidal demon thinking it was a good idea.” A bitter laugh escapes his lips, “I knew what would happen. I knew he would become real like you and the others, but I kept on trucking. I should have stopped after the Sister Location videos.” 

“I guess we were both pretty stupid.” Marvin offers him a small smile. 

Jack sighs again and draws his hand back, “I’m sorry, Marv. For not giving you the life you deserved. If I had created you right, you wouldn’t be blind, Anti would have never gotten you. You'd be so much more than you are now. It’s my fault that we’re all in this mess.” His voice cracks. Was he crying? “I’m so sorry.”

The magician was more than a little surprised. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Jack cry. He was always so positive and happy. Not once could he remember Jack being so unhappy. It hurt to hear his soft, hiccuping cries. “It-it’s okay. I forgive you.”

”You shouldn’t,” The chair scrapes against the floor. "You really shouldn't." Jack pauses for a moment before exiting the room. 

Marvin tilts his head down at the coffee mug in his hands. He knew Jack felt responsible for everything Anti had done, but not even he couldn’t control him. No one could. He lifts the cup to his lips and takes a sip of the lukewarm coffee. They needed to find a way to get rid of the glitch, and soon.


	12. Chapter 12

“Whatcha’ got there, Jamie?” A soft voice cut through the mute man’s thoughts. Jack sat himself onto the couch next to him. His eyes were rimmed red, as if he’d been crying. Jameson decided it was best not to ask.

The object in question was a crocheted doll hung limply in his hands. It’s bright, blue eyes shone like sapphires. Thick brown hair curled loosely around its head. The doll was an almost exact replica of someone from the life he left behind. His throat tightened just thinking about the little boy. He couldn't have saved him. There was no way. Memories of that fateful evening flood back, drowning him in their sorrow.

_Jameson had come home from work that day, only to be immediately knocked out as  he stepped through the doorway. He'd awoken to find himself tied up with a familiar face sneering down at him._

_Anton. His best friend, his boss, his brother in more than just blood. The man who had helped him by giving him a job when he was at his lowest. Who'd been at his side while they were growing up. They had been inseparable. Now, against everything Jameson thought he knew about him, he stood with a gun pointed at an innocent woman and child. It was as if he had never known him._   _All Jameson could do was watch. He’d already screamed his throat raw, losing his voice in the process. Thick rope bound him to a chair and bit into his wrists. He's stopped struggling a long time ago, he wasn’t getting free unless someone cut him out._

_A tall, dark haired woman stood in front of her son, shielding him from the man they both trusted with their lives. Now it seemed he was going to take them. “Leave us alone!” The woman cried. The boy lifted his head to meet his father’s gaze, bright blue eyes burning into his. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Jameson's chest ached as he watched. There was nothing he could do to stop it._

_Anton laughed, a horrible grating sound. In the corner, a radio hisses static, glitching in and out of stations in time with the rise and fall of his laugh. He raised the gun to her forehead, “If you insist. But first-” A loud BANG echoes through the room as he pulls the trigger. A spray of red paints the wall behind them. Samantha’s body falls backwards in slow motion. A scream rings through the room._

_Christopher tries to run across the room to his father, but Anton grabs him by the arm as he slips in the growing pool of his mother’s blood, “And where do you think you're going, Christopher?”_

_The boy squirms against his grip, “Daddy! Daddy, help!”_

_But he can’t. There was no way to free himself from the rope. And even if he got free would he be able to do anything? He could only watch as Anton raises the pistol to his son's head. The boy's eyes widen and he struggles against his uncle's grip even more._

_”Say Goodbye, Jamie,” he smirks and pulls the trigger. A spray of blood coats the wooden floor and Anton drops the little boy's body. He falls in a pool of his own blood, the light quickly fading from his blue eyes._

_Jameson almost vomits at the sight of the two most important people in his life dead at the hands of someone he trusted to the moon and back. His mouth opens in a silent scream, but his voice was too far gone to even whisper._

_Anton bends down in front of him, “Keep this moment in mind, Jackson. I’m not finished with you yet.” He pulls a small watch out of his breast pocket. Jameson recognizes it instantly. He’d given it to him as a birthday gift two years before. The murderer looks at the watch and drops it in his lap. For the first time that night, Jameson meets his eyes. No remorse shows in his green eyes. Jameson's breath catches in his throat and he realized something is truly wrong. Anton's eyes were **blue** , like his. Not the emeralds that he saw now. _

_He slashes through the rope binding Jameson's arms and legs with a knife Jameson didn't know he had._ _“See you soon.” Anton spins on his heel and walks away, stepping over the pools of blood and the two people he'd killed._

”Jay? Jay!” A voice snaps him out of his thoughts. Jack is kneeling in front of him with a concerned expression. The crocheted doll had been thrown across the room as if it had caused the flashback. In a way, Jameson supposed it had. “Are you alright?”

Jameson stands and crosses the room to the doll. He scoops it up in one fluid motion. There was no point in answering his question. Jack already knew the answer. Bile rises in the back of his throat. It burns as he swallows. He decides to ask a question of his own.  _“How much do you know about me?”_

”What?” Jack’s eyes flicker between the doll and Jameson. “I don’t understand.”

Jameson sighs. _"How much about my past do you know?”_   The doll feels heavy in his hands, not in weight, but in guilt. He could have tried to save them, but all he did was watch as it all happened.

“Jay, I-I don’t-“

_”It's a simple question. Answer it, please.”_

A long moment passes, letting Jameson know exactly what he suspected: Jack clearly knew more than he was letting on. He rubs his forehead, “More than you think.” He sighs deeply and looks away.

 _”How much? Do you know what happened to Samantha? To_   _Christopher?”_ He was on the verge of breaking now. Fat tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Falling back onto the couch, he blinks the tears away.

His creator looks down at his hands, and in the tiniest whisper replies, “Yes. Yes I do.” He pushes to his feet, avoiding Jameson's eyes, “I know more than you could imagine, Jay. There’s more to this... ability than I’ve told you all.” With that he walks away, leaving Jameson behind with more questions than answers. What the hell hadn't he told them? How much more could he do that he hadn't revealed? 

Loud footsteps pounding down the stairs break him from his thoughts. Signe comes into view with a hastily packed suitcase and her phone to her ear. She hardly acknowledges Jameson as she dashes though the living room towards the front door. Fumbling with her keys, she nods and mutters something softly to the person on the phone. Then, she's out the door and the room returns to the still, quiet place it was before she's raced downstairs.

Jameson leans back into the plush couch wondering what the hell was happening. First Jack was being cryptic, and now Signe was running out of the house without a warning? He absently wonders if the two events are connected.

Running his thumb over the face of the doll, he can't help but wonder who made it. No one, except for maybe Jack, knew what Christopher looked like. Especially down to the exact color of his sapphire eyes. And could any of them even crochet? Anxiety rose in his chest as he remembered a joke Jackie had made while he was on tour after a fan had asked what their guilty pleasures were. Anti's guilty pleasure was crocheting. His chest tightened at the realization and he had the urge to chuck the doll across the room.  

But he doesn't.

Something was keeping him from getting rid of the doll. It seemed drawn to him and he was drawn to it. He decided then that he needed someone else to get rid of it for him. He stands and makes his way to Jackie's lab, hoping to find some answers there.


	13. Chapter 13

Jackie had locked himself in his workroom for three days after Chase's attack. Not for the sole purpose of solitude. No, he had a goal. A goal that if he managed to achieve, he would be prouder of himself than he ever had been before. This project was the hardest thing he had ever attempted to create. And he was tantalizingly close to finishing it. Two eyeglass lenses sat on the table in front of him, and a pile of twenty other shattered lenses had been swept into the waste basket next to the table. Twenty hours of research, twenty hours of design, and almost thirty hours of trial and error were all finally paying off. All there was left to do now was to test it.

He texts Marvin to meet him in his workroom. As he waited for the magician, he set the lenses in eyeglass frames. A few minutes later, the door swings open and Marvin trudges in. Purple bags hang under his eyes, showing just how little sleep he'd been getting. Although, Jackie had been living off coffee for the past few days, so he couldn't really judge him. Marvin stumbles around a pile of junk in the middle of the floor. Jackie winces, he should have cleaned up before calling a blind man into his incredibly messy workroom.

"What do you want, Jackie?" Marvin's voice sounds just as tired as he looks. 

The hero smiles excitedly, "I have something for you." He springs out of the chair and presses the glasses into Marvin's hands. "Here."

Marvin runs his fingers along the glasses, getting a mental image of what was in his hands, "Glasses? Jackie what-"

"Just put them on," He practically bounces on the balls of his feet. Willing himself to calm down, he clasps his hands behind his back.

Marvin slips the glasses onto his face. He looks past Jackie at nothing, "What are these supposed to do?"

 _Wait._ Jackie slaps his hands to his face with a groan. They were supposed to be contacts, _not_ glasses. Glasses couldn't really do much to help him. He reaches out and pulls the glasses from his face. "I'm sorry, Marv. They were supposed to be contacts. I guess I'm more sleep deprived than I thought."

"Were you trying to find a way to help me see?" Marvin asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Not angerly, if anything he looked quite hopeful.

Jackie sighs and nods. A second passes before he realizes that Marvin couldn't see him nodding, "Yeah- yeah I was. But I fucked it up," His shoulders slump as he falls back into his chair.

Marvin chuckles, "It's okay. I appreciate the effort."

"Heh... Thanks, man," He turns back to his table, searching for a thin sheet of plastic. When he doesn't find one on the table, he stands again as rummages through the piles.

A few minutes later, a knock comes from the door. Jackie yanks his head up, hitting it against an over hanging piece of metal. He groans and rubs the spot. Jameson stands in the doorway rather awkwardly, with something dangling from his hand.  _A doll?_ Jackie thinks, _Why would he have a doll?_

The mute man shifts awkwardly, not sure if he should enter the room or not. _"Am I interrupting something?"_ He asks.

"No, not at all," Jackie pushes to his feet and shakes his head. "What's up, Jamie?"

Jameson steps into the room, relaxing a bit as he does so. " _Could you takes a look at this for me?”_  He holds the doll towards Jackie. The first thing he notices about it is strange familiarity of it. It looks like it could be Jameson, but the hair is too dark and the eyes are too blue. This makes him wonder if it was supposed to be Jameson and the maker just got colors wrong or if it's someone else entirely. 

He takes the doll from him. Turning it over in his hands, nothing seems wrong with it, but something was obviously making Jameson uncomfortable. The wool was soft against his hands in a way he didn't expect it to be. He traces the sapphire blue eyes. Nothing happens. He wasn't sure why he was expecting something to.

Marvin motions for Jackie to hand it to him and the hero complies. The magician turns it over in his hands, feeling the stitching where the eyes were. He too seems to be surpriised when nothing happens as he feels the eyes. A spark ignites in his hands and catches the doll. Jameson gasps softly as a fire starts to burn on the doll. The three of them can only watch as the fire eats at the wool quickly reducing the doll into nothing but a pile of ash. Marvin blinks in surprise and lets the ash fall to the ground  his fingers. He looks between the dust and Jameson, “Um... sorry.”

Jameson exhales,  _“It’s alright. I was looking for a way to get rid of it anyway.”_

“Good that you wanted it gone, cause I don’t think I can get it back,” Marvin shakes his head.

”Say, what was that anyway?” Jackie asks, “I mean- I get that it was a doll, but there was something strange about it.” 

 _“I-it’s quite a long story...”_ Jameson removes his hat and fiddles with the brim. Jackie wonders if it was actually a long story, or if he just didn’t feel like talking about it.

“Was it supposed to be you?” Marvin asks.

Jameson shakes his head, “ _No, no I don’t think so.”_

“Was...” Jackie pauses, wondering if he should ask the question he wants to ask. From what he’d gathered from Anti’s possession of Marvin a few days ago, family from his old life was a sensitive topic. Honestly, that was one of the things they all had in common.  _Ah fuck it._ “Was if your son?”

Jameson’s shoulders slump slightly, “ _Yes. I do believe it was supposed to be Christopher,”_ A sad smile stretches across his face. He runs his thumbs along the brim of his hat, avoiding meeting anyone’s gaze. The smile disappears,  _“He was such a nice boy. Always kind to everyone. He was too young. Only five when he-. Wh-when he-“_ He chokes out a raspy sob, unable to hide the emotions any longer. 

Jackie pulls the younger ego into a hug. Jameson buries his face in Jackie’s shoulder, letting out tears he’d held in for far too long. Marvin comes up behind him and awkwardly rests a hand between his shoulder blades. He had never been the best at comfort. His sobs send needles of guilt straight to Jackie’s heart, except he’s not sure what he’s guilty for. 

They stay like that for a while, Jameson with his face in Jackie’s shoulder and Marvin doing his best to give some sort of comfort. The eldest ego rubbed small circles with his thumbs. Until an alarm blares from the corner of the room. Instinctively, they jump in surprise as the alarm cries through the quiet moment. A small, eye shaped droid rises in the corner, the red flashing light on the top of his head spinning wildly.

Jackie groans and pulls away from Jameson, leaving a hand on his shoulder, “Who is it, SAM?”

“Code Mike Alpha Yankee Oscar Romeo,” The droid answers monotonously. His blue eye blinks in time with each word. Jackie mentally reminds himself to change the codes from military alphabet to something more practical. Much more practical.

“Send them through.” 

There’s a soft click and the Mayor’s voice fills the room, “Jackieboy? You there?”

Jackie slips on his mask to disguise his voice. No risks were to be taken, not now, “I’m here. What’s happening?

”There is a group of vaguely threatening people gathered on 1st Street near the bank. They haven’t done anything yet, but reports say they’re carrying weapons such as hand guns. A few even have knives and cleavers.” 

 _Bank robbery?_ But no, it couldn’t be. Why would they be so stupid as to gather outside the bank showing their weapons. They were obviously after something else. But what? “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” 

“Thank you, Jackieboy. Please be careful, we don’t know what these people are planning,” Their warning almost feels foreboding, but he brushes the feeling off as just paranoia.

”I will.” He nods at SAM and the droid cuts the call. Great. This was exactly what he needed. A group of suspicious individuals with no clear motive all carrying obvious weapons. He turns to Marvin and Jameson and shrugs apologetically. They seem to understand and Jameson leads the magician from the room, guiding him around the piles of scrap littering the floor. 

Jackie turns back to SAM, “Alright, buddy. Let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The situation with Jameson's doll was inspired by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)'s story "In Time of Need". It's an awesome story and I highly recommend it if you like angsty ego stuff.


	14. Chapter 14

As much as Henrik cared for Chase, sometimes he could be too much for the doctor to handle. The clutter on his bedroom floor was a perfect example of this. Chase’s room was a hazardous mess of memorabilia, Nerf guns, and clothes. Granted, being on bed rest he wasn’t able to get up and clean anything up. But he also wouldn’t let Henrik move anything, no matter how many times the doctor tripped over a stray shoe. Sometimes when Chase was asleep, he’d move a few things out of the way, but he always found out. Always. He could understand him not wanting a few things moved, but he was starting to get irritated when he tripped just standing from the bedside chair. 

Henrik had taken to keeping him company during his bed rest. The events of a few days ago were wearing down on everybody. Especially Chase. He felt that he’d caused the whole fiasco with Anti possessing Jack. It was hard to convince him otherwise no matter what Henrik said.

Currently, Chase was asleep, curled into a tight ball around one of his pillows. Henrik was slightly annoyed at his strange sleeping position. It would make what he came here to do much harder than it needed to be. 

The small tray in his hands feels heavier than it should as he stumbles through the mess. A Nerf gun appears at his feet and he almost tumbles face first to the floor. Somehow, he manages to regain his balance without dropping the tray. He pauses for a moment, letting his heart-rate return to normal. It takes another minute of strategic placements of his feet to actually make it to the side of Chase's bed. He sets the tray down on the nightstand and surveys Chase. There would be no easy way to inject him with the drug like this. Both of his arms were wrapped tightly around his pillow, not allowing access to the place where he would usually inject someone. The only other options were his legs, which would be too much of a hassle to attempt to get to, and his neck. Henrik scrunched his face up. He didn't want to stick a needle in Chase's throat, especially after all the trauma that had occurred there, but it was the only plausible option. 

Latex gloves slipped easily over the doctor's hands. He grabbed a cotton swab drenched in antiseptic and gently brushed it along the side of his neck. Thankfully, Chase was a heavy sleeper and he barely stirred. Next, he picked up the syringe. A thick, green liquid swam in the glass container, bringing back memories that he'd much rather forget. The last time he'd used this was when Chase was healing from the incident. It had helped him heal faster, but had caused some unfortunate side effects. This time, he'd made sure to update the formula so that none of those side effects wouldn't happen. Unfortunately, there was no way to test the drug, and there might be unexpected symptoms. 

He held to syringe up, checking the dosage for the umpteenth time. He didn't feel particular comfortable using Chase as, basically, a guinea pig for this, but there weren't a whole lot of other options. His vocal cords and air ways wouldnt heal properly with out it. Slowly, he stabbed the needle into his neck. When Chase neither woke up nor stirred, Henrik pushed the drug into his neck. The veins around the injection site turned a sickly green for a moment, before returning to their normal color. 

A few minutes pass and it doesn’t seem like anything bad was going to happen. Henrik took this as a sign that any side effects had been removed when he updated the drug, and mentally pat himself on the back. The only thing he could do now was to wait and hope it did it’s job. Gathering the materials, he carefully makes his way out of Chase's room and back to his office. The tray is dumped into the sink as he rips the gloves off. 

Once he finishes washing his hands and cleaning his equipment, he glances dejectedly at the large stack of paperwork on his desk. No matter what was happening in his life, paperwork was never going to leave him. Not even if his best friend had almost died. With a sigh, he falls into the desk chair and grabs a sheet from the top of the stack.

Not even a minute later, a loud crash comes from downstairs, followed by shouts from whoever was down there. Henrik can't help but groan. Things like this weren't uncommon, but they normally ended with him having to patch someone up. That someone usually being Jackie. The hero got hurt countless times when he was on patrol, and it was up to Henrik to fix him up every time. He didn't mind having to stitch together a few wounds here and there, but Jackie could be careless and _that_ was what bothered him the most. 

The door to his office slams open. Marvin bursts in carrying an unconscious Jackie in his arms. Henrik's blood ran cold. When he was hurt, Jackie tried to it from everyone as to not worry them. It never worked since Henrik could see right through him. Many times Henrik had to drag him into his office after patrols to make sure that he hadn't gotten hurt. Not once had he ever seen him passed out like this. Marvin gently placed Jackie onto the cot in the back of the room. Henrik hurries over to them, slipping his lab coat on as he does.

"Vhat happened?" Henrik asks, trying his best to stay calm. Blood seeps through the hero's suit, staining the already red fabric. It's littered with what look like bullet holes and slashes that could only have come from knives. 

"Jackieboy Man has received ten bullet wounds and three stab wounds," SAM, Jackie's android sidekick, rolls into the room. "Four of the ten bullets are still in his body. He is losing blood at a high rate. Recommended courses of action: sugary and blood transplant." 

Marvin swallows hard, "I set a spell on him to help with the blood loss, but we don't have a lot of time."

Henrik whips around to look at him, "Zen vhat are vee still doing here?" He yells.

The magician blinks, surprised by Henrik's outburst "R-right." He lifts Jackie again and moves him into Henrik's operating room. The doctor follows swiftly. The small android rolls in behind him. Henrik wants to kick him out, who knows where it's been, but he sees how it could help him. The android could Ben vital to Jackie’s survival.

Henrik grabs a scalpel and cuts at Jackie's suit. It doesn't even make a dent. The doctor curses at himself. The suit had been specifically designed to _not_ be damaged by sharp objects. He bites his lip as he wonders just how sharp the knives were if they had cut through the suit. Seeing Henrik’s struggle, Marvin mutters a few foreign words under his breath. The suit disappears off Jackie and reappears in the corner of the room, leaving the hero mostly naked. Each wound gushes blood too fast for Henrik’s liking. Any amount of blood loss was bad, but he was losing blood way too fast.

He loses track of time once he begins the operation. The time that passes could either be seconds or hours. It’s a grueling process that requires his full attention. He stitches together the deep gashes and removes the bullets and iron shards in his chest. Against all odds, none of his vital organs were damaged beyond repair. His stomach had a small hole from when a bullet grazed it, but it would heal. 

Marvin assists the best he can. He’d enchanted a pair of glasses so that they gave him partial vision, but the spell was wonky and would sometimes do more bad than good. Other spells he used, however, worked wonders. There was one that, when he cast it, mended three of the deeper knife wounds. The spell saved precious time that would have been used to sew the cuts together. 

Finally, after God knows how long, they were done and Jackie was in a mostly stable condition. He’d lost a lot of blood, and would probably be unable to move for a few days while the wounds healed.

Henrik was exhausted. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent so long operating on someone. Usually he’d have a team of other doctors with him helping out, which made the process much easier and much shorter. Without others helping him, he had to do all of the work himself and that was just too much on him. He pushed through it. But Jackie was alive and would be okay because of it. He would be okay.

He had to be okay.


	15. Chapter 15

Chase threw open the door to Henrik's office and stumbled inside. His legs were still getting used to walking again after days of doing nothing but laying in bed, and it was proving to be a challenge just to move around. Henrik had a apparently given him some sort of drug that healed him faster than his body usually did. As much as he didn't appreciate being a lab rat for the doctor's experiments, he was glad to be able to walk and talk again.

The others were already crowded around Jackie's bed. The hero had been viciously attacked after he was asked to take care of a strange group of people. Now _he_ was the one bound to a bed for a few days. Marvin had the back of his hand resting against Jackie's forehead as he murmured a spell under his breath. The magician looked exhausted. He'd locked himself in his room after he'd finished helping Henrik with Jackie's surgery and hadn't come out for a few days. This morning, he'd appeared in the kitchen while they were eating breakfast and told them to meet him in Henrik's office at noon. He seemed more enthusiastic than normal and they all wondered what he wanted to show them.

Chase seemed to be the last one to arrive. As he stepped up to Jackie's bedside, Marvin finished up his spell. The magician turns to him, "Perfect timing, Chase! We're just about to start."

"You still haven't told us what we're be doing, Marv," Jack leans against a filing cabinet. Purple bags hang under his eyes and his hair is disheveled more than usual. Chase wonders if it has anything to do with Signe's sudden trip back home to Denmark. She apparently had a family emergency and had to rush home. Jack heavily relied on her for support when Anti was giving him the most trouble, and if the glitch had been bothering him recently, not having Signe around must be extremely taxing.

The corners of Marvin's mouth perk up. He waves his hand, showering the floor beneath him in green sparks. Five wooden chairs appear around the bed. It takes Chase a moment to realize that they're the chairs from the kitchen table. "Take a seat. You're going to want to sit down for this." Marvin says as he gracefully sits back. The rest of them hesitantly sat down, still unsure of what Marvin was planning.

"We're sitting, Marvin. What now?" Chase asks sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alright," Marvin pushes his glasses back up on his nose, "For the past few days, I've been working on a way to enter the mindscape."

Jack tightens his jaw, " _Why?_ What makes you want to enter the mindscape? It's an incredibly dangerous place. What use would you get out of it?" His gaze hardens as it lands on the magician.

Marvin keeps his cool under Jack's fiery glare, "I've been doing some research on it recently, and if I manage to access it, we could use it as a weapon against Anti. We could even use it as a prison."

 _"Hold on just a tick. What is this mindscape exactly?"_ Jameson asks, throwing his arms up. He's clearly confused by what Jack and Marvin are talking about. Chase doesn't blame him. He has no idea what this mindscape even could be. 

"Good question," Marvin says. With another wave of his hand, a picture appears over Jackie's bed. It shows a maze of white halls with doors dotting the walls at uneven intervals. The walls look to be either remarkably smooth or just really bright. They're almost to bright to look at. "This is the mindscape. It's a physical representation of our subconscious. Every sentient being has one. We, however, seem to _share_ ours with each other. Behind those doors are both memories and visual representations of the functions of our brain."

Chase bites his bottom lip. "So if you opened one of those doors you could watch whatever memory was behind it?" The thought made him shudder. He had more than a few memories that he'd like to forget, and he didn't want to see them. And he most definitely didn't want anyone else seeing them either.

"Exactly," Marvin confirms, "It's fascinating and-

"And it is incredibly dangerous," Jack butts in, the sour expression still on his face. 

Marvin frowns, "Jack, I know you have bad memories attached to it, but it's the most powerful offence we have. If we want to get rid of Anti, this is out best bet."

"How do you know it will hold him?" Jack retorts, leaning forward in his chair "Hell, he could trap us there. That's not even-"

"Jack," Henrik puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him, "Let him try. It could be as good as he says. Don't look at me like zat,  _mein Freund_. Vee know zere's a risk, but zere is also a risk is just existing now. Vee have to try zis."

Jack leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. He's silent for a moment before he sighs, looking down at the floor "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." 

Marvin lays a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you. Now, I'm going to need all of you to help with this." A green orb flies from his outstretched hand and hovers above Jackie's chest. Jackie is fast asleep. Marvin must have been putting a sleep charm over him when Chase walked in. The sight reminds him of the depressing days where he would come in here and sit with a comatose Jack for hours. He cursed at how similar they all looked. 

"We're going to be using Jackie's brain waves to help us with this. Don't worry, I asked him if it was okay first," Marvin runs a finger over the now pulsing orb. It glows with a muted light as he touches it, and fades when he pulls his hand away. Marvin rests his palm on the orb and it doubles in size. He gestures for the others to do the same.

Chase carefully reaches out and touches the orb. It's slightly warm and strangely smooth. Jameson's hand joins next to his, slightly overlapping their fingers. Next is Henrik, then Jack. The orb isn't big enough to fit all of their hands on comfortably, and Marvin refuses to make it bigger. "I think we're set," The magician suddenly grows serious, "Whatever happens, do  _not_ remove your hand from the orb, or try to stop me from what I'm doing. Breaking the spell could result in all of us getting hurt. Do you understand?" They all nod. Chase suddenly feels nervous, anxiety welling in his chest. He takes a deep breath, calming his racing heart.

Marvin closes his eyes. _"Invoca me exousía mésa mou. I ischýs pou tha somnio mundum. Anoixe. Aperta. Anoixe."_ His eyes snap back open, his irises glowing a soft blue. He repeats the incantation two more times, each with more and more intensity. Energy flows from Chase's hand into the orb, or maybe, from the orb to his hand. It's hard to tell.

Then, suddenly, everything stops. Marvin's eyes stop glowing and he collapses over himself, drawing his hand back from the orb. Chase exchanges an anxious look with Henrik. None of them knew what to do. Should the try to help him? Marvin had said not to interfere, but they didn't know if this was supposed to happen? No one moves for a long moment. 

Marvin abruptly jolts back up. His glasses had fallen off and his grey-blue eyes scan them almost as if he could see. An uneasy feeling snakes down Chase's spine. The magician turns to face Jack, "Y̢ou're ̷wer̷e g̢oing ̨to̢ l̡et̶ hi͟m͟ i̸n̛t͢o ̸t̵hȩ ͝min͡d͘scape͡?̴" The glitchy voice echoes through the office. Chase tenses, and feels Jameson do the same beside him. _Not again._ "In͝te͢r͜es҉ti͝n͠g, ͡I͟ ͝wo̶ųld ̶have͡ ̡never e̶x͢pect͞e͞d ͘y̧ou̶ w̧ou̸ld҉ t͏ake ̴th̡a̵t͡ r͢i͟s͢k ͝c͠ons͠i̢d̡e̸r͠in҉g͠ ͜w̕h͞at ͜y̢o͝u͡ ha͏v͞e͝ ̕tơ hid͟e҉ i̶n t͞her̴e̷."

There was something strange about the way Anti was acting. Instead of the normal anger that filled his gaze, his eyes were softer. They could even be considered kind, if that was even possible for the demon. They also weren't the hard green that they were the last time he spoke through Marvin, they were still the magician's normal cloudy blue. The glitch's words confused him as well. What was Jack hiding in the mindscape? Was that the real reason he didn't want Marvin trying to access it.

"Vhat do you vant zis time?" Henrik snaps. 

"W͏h̕a̧t̸ ̡do̷ _I_ wan͢t?" Anti sneers at the doctor. He stands and looms over Henrik, "I want̴ t͢o ͡show̶ ͠thȩm ̴t̴h͏e ͜tru͜th."

Jack scoffs, "The truth?" Despite his attempt at being nonchalant, his voice shakes. 

"Y̨e̡s. ͟The ţrut̴h. ͟Be͞c͢aus͘e̵ _y̕ou_ w̧on't t͘e̸l҉l̨ them,̕ ͞I̢'҉ll t̨ake it͏ up̧o͟n̸ mys̶elf҉ ҉t̨o͠.͘" Anti covers their hands with his, an uncomfortable warmth spreading though his body. Suddenly, Chase feels like he's falling. The world around him fades into a dizzying spiral of color. It only lasts for a moment, but when it fades he opens his eyes to find himself in a strangely familiar place. Spotless white walls stretch as far as he can see. More halls branch off from where he is, leading to who knows where.

The others pop into existence around him. Jackie leans against the wall on the other side of the corridor. Jameson falls to his knees and dry heaves from the nauseating experience. Jack and Henrik appear right on their feet, only stumbling slightly. Finally, Marvin appears behind Chase. He blinks in surprise and meets Chase's eyes. Their cloudy grayness was gone, replaced by crystal clear baby blues. He could _see._

Anti glitches into existence in the middle of the corridor. He twirls his knife in his hand as he scans the frazzled men. A smirk pulls on his lips, "Wel̵com̶e ͜ţo͟ ̷th͏e ͡min̴d͏sc̵ap̷e.̢"


	16. Chapter 16

This wasn't exactly how Anti had planned this to go, but it was working nonetheless. Most of the egos surrounding him were dazed from being pulled into the mindscape. They had no clue as to what was happening. Not surprising. Most of them had never even heard of the mindscape before today.

He mentally reviewed the plan as he scanned the recovering group of egos. Show them what they needed to see, trap Jack and Henrik deep in the mindscape, and relax for the first time in his life. It was easy enough to plant the idea of entering the mindscape into Marvin's head. All it took was a cleverly conceived dream, and the magician was hooked. He hadn't planned on possessing him while he was casting the spell, the temptation was too high, so he did it anyway. It made things go much smoother in the end anyway.

Jackie straightened himself from leaning against the wall and met Anti's gaze. His eyes were wide with fear and intrigue. Anti made no move towards him, instead stepping towards Jameson to help him up. When he arrived, he looked like he was about to barf, and for some reason Anti felt bad for him. He decided not to dwell on the why. Chase appeared out of no where and blocked the path between them. "Take another step, and I'll blow your brains out, asshole," He snarled and pulled out a pistol from behind himself. He raised the gun and pointed it at Anti.

 _Interesting,_ Anti thought,  _Consciously or not, he's figured out how to bend the mindscape to his will._  With a sigh, Anti pushes the pistol away, and Chase, surprisingly, doesn’t fight him. "I͜'̧m ͠no͜t͏ he͡re to h͡u҉rt͞ y͠ou. A̵t l̶e͘as̴t,̕ ̕n̢ot ͘ _you_ ̨i͞n ̷p̕ąr̸ticul̸a̡r," He says. 

"And why should we believe that?" Marvin calls from behind him. Anti turns to answer him, only to be met with a blast of freezing cold air to the face. The wind sends him stumbling backwards, but it doesn't stop. More gusts bombard him, turning his upper body numb. Marvin seemed to be sending an entire blizzard at him. When he finally stops, Anti takes a moment to reorient himself. Marvin had a lot of gut to attack him like that, but he'd promised he wouldn't hurt him. There were only two people here that he would attack. And they deserved it.

Anti coughs violently, blood from his neck wound spurting into his hand. "I̷f ͝yo͞u̢ w̷o͢u҉ld͘ ͠le͠t̕ m͡e ͡t͞a̡l̴k̕,̷ maybe͝ y̢ou ͝w͜ou҉ld͟ f͘i̡n̶d̕ out̵." 

"Vhy on earth vould vee believe anysing you hafe to say?" Henrik asks. Anti's blood boils just looking at the doctor. If he were to list all of the reasons that he hated him, it would take up a full sized novel and then some. Henrik had caused him too much pain to ever be forgiven. The only forgiveness he'd ever be getting from him was a slit throat. And that’s if he’s feeling kind.

"Oh let him talk, Henrik. He might have something interesting to say," Jack smirks knowingly at Anti. It took every ounce of control he had not to launch himself at Jack. That bastard was the reason they were all in this mess in the first place. _He_ was the reason Anti was the monster he was.

 _Come on. Come on. What’s taking him so long?_ Anti holds back his anger and meets Jack’s eyes. They hold all of the embarrassing amusement that he has for this situation. Hopefully he wouldn’t be amused for long. “I̧ s̶h̶ou̷l̴d̀n’҉t h̕ave t̢o ̀do an͟y̕ ta̛lki̕ng͠. You̶r ͠ac͘ti̴ons͢ ́s͠pèa͠k҉ ̶l̨oud̢ ͏en̵o̧u̡g҉h͝, _S͘ea͏n͝_ ,” He growls, putting extra emphasis on the name. "Ęxce͡pt, that҉'͠s̵ no̵t yo͘u̵r͜ ̵n͠am͡e, ͜n̛o̕w̛ iş ͢i͠t͡?"

 _"What in God’s name are you blabbering about?”_ Jameson’s voice rings clearly through his head. He pushes to his feet and steps out from behind Chase, who reaches an arm out to stop him. Jameson easily sidesteps his grasp. Fear bleeds through his tough facade. Fear that he shouldn't have.

"D̛o yo̵u r͟ȩall̨y h͢a҉v͠e ͠no͘ ide͞a͏?͠" He spins around and looks at everyone, and is met with a lot of angry and confused stares. "I̧ ̕do͝n'͠t k̡now ̸wh͞y̶ I̸ ̡ex͠p͡e͠c̡ted ̸a̡n͡yţh͢i̷n͢g͝ else͘.̵"He mutters, disappointed.

Jack snorts, finally expressing his trivial amusement. But Anti finally can see right through his mask. The humor he lets show is just a front for the fear he holds within. It pleases Anti to know he has that effect on him. "And what exactly were you expecting? Us to believe the lies you're going to tell us?" Jack crosses his arms over his chest.

A smile flickers of Anti's face, "T̡he̛y̶ ͟belįevę ͘t͞ḩe ̸l̨ies̸ ̷y̨o̴u ̵tell ͘t̨h͟em̨, do͜n͘'̕t҉ th͢e͟y̧?" That shuts Jack up. The humor in his eyes disappears, replaced with something darker that he can't read. He opens his mouth to answer, then decides against it. Anti dug him into a hole. If Jack agreed that, yes, they _had_ believed his lies, he'd be admitting to lying; If he said that they didn't believe his lies, he'd still be admitting to lying. There was no right way for him to answer. 

Marvin, ever the observant, catches this, and turns to Jack. "What lies do you even tell us?" He questions, his tone more confused than accusatory. 

"Do you think _I'd_ lie to you?" Jack rolls his eyes, and chuckles nervously. "Have you forgotten what he's put us through? What he put _you_ though, Marv?"

Anti's top lip curls up, "Y͝es͡,̸ be̶ca͝use҉ w͠h̨at͏ ͠I̷'v̷e ̸d͝o͝n̨e̢ t̷o͢ them ͏e͡q͏u͠als̕ w̸h͘a̶t you̢ d̢id t̨o ̴m̨e͞,͟ wha͡t ̵y̶o͏u͘'v̡e ta͠ken̛ ̡fr̢o̢m ͜me̛? W̶hat̸ yo҉u've ̕t̵r̕i͞cke̶d t̷hem͞ ͡i͏ņt̷o̢ th̛ink̶ing̸?"

No one gets the chance to respond, as, suddenly, Marvin curls over himself, clutching his head as if in pain.  _Finally._ Anti sighs in relief. That had taken much too long. Jameson is the next to collapse. He falls back against the wall and slides down with a silent cry. Chase and Jackie wince, but don't seem to get the full effect. At first he's confused as to why, but green strings fade into view and tightly wrap around them. The strings snake around their wrists and ankles, coming to a stop as they wind around their necks. Their eyes flutter shut, only to reopen shining a brilliant green. Anti curses silently. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen.

"Vhat are you doing?" Henrik cries. He rushes towards Marvin, but the magician shoves him away with a gust of magic. He straightens himself and glares at Jack and Henrik.

Marvin turns to Jameson and helps him stand. They exchange a look that Anti can't read. "Yeah... I know," Marvin mutters, seemingly to himself.

"Are yo̸u t̡wo̧ ok̵a̸y̢? ̵Di͢d͞ įt wo̶r͞k?" Anti asks them.

Marvin's shoots his hand out to cast a spell. For a moment, Anti thinks he's going to hex him, but instead Jack and Henrik find themselves knocked onto their backs. Marvin stalks over to them, scowling. He pulls Jack up by the collar of his shirt and stares him directly in the eye, "How much did you take from me?" He growls.

"What did he do to you?" Jack asks, avoiding the question. He's obviously shocked at Marvin's newfound freedom. Seeing Jack at the mercy at, arguably, his most powerful creation is a fueling sight. Anti joins Marvin in front of Jack. Their creator's eyes glance over them, then to Jameson behind them. He swallows roughly. "What are you doing?" He asks softly.

"Woul̢d ̨you bel̴i̶ev̶e me ̛if I ̴sai͡d I ̶didn't ̡ _d̛o̧_ ͘anythin͝g?" It wasn't a lie. Anti had no part of cutting their strings. That was all someone else. Someone who had the right to hate him even more than Anti did. It doesn't seem to take Jack long to figure it out who it is either. He sputters in anger, unable to form coherent words. 

Henrik stands and Anti takes an instinctive step back, cursing himself as he does so. He tries to play it off as getting into a fighting stance, but the doctor sees right through him. Henrik frowns and shakes his head, " You always vere feisty, but I always expected more from you, 207."

The number turns his blood to ice. Old memories, bad memories, surface to the front of his mind. Anti bares his teeth, trying to forget more than scare the doctor. "That is no̢t̕ my҉ ņame.̧ N̕ęve͡r̵ ͘h̕as ͜b͡ęen, ͟n҉ev̸e̕r͞ ͘w̶i̷l͜l͡ ̧b̧e." 

Marvin throws Jack back onto the ground. He lands on his back with a soft _oof._ Recovering quickly, he stands and brushes imaginary dirt off his clothes. He ignores Marvin and stares right at Anti. "Antonio, stop this. What have you done to them?"

He jabs his knife at Jack's chest, threatening to stab him. "You͠ do̴ ͜ņo͠t have̡ t̷he ̡r͜i͡g͟ḩt to̕ ͘c̨all͘ me _t͠h͟a͡t_ eith̨er.̢ ̢I͞ ̢a̴m҉ ̡An̕t͠i̡,̶ ̨the m͏o͏nster ̛ _y̶oư_ ̶ma͘de me͘.͜ ̷Exc̨e̢p̵t ҉no͟w,͜ ̶I ̴a͟m̷ in ̡co̴ntro͝l," He states, lightly pokes him with the knife to emphasis each word. "A̶nd li̴ke̸ ̸I sai̧d̢:̸ _I_ h͏av̵e̵n͠'t done an͡y͟th̶in̶g. B̕u̶t̛ their ̸s͞t͞rin̷gs̕ h҉av͏e̵ ̛been͟ ̡cu͜t. ͏Y͏o͜u̷ c͝a̛n̸'͘t͡ ͏con͡tr̴ol t̸h̛em͜ ̛any͞mo̸re͟.̸" Jack knew who had helped him, it was obvious by the incredulous look on his stupid face. And yet, he was still denying it. Whether it was because he just refused to believe it, or he was trying to hide the truth, Anti didn't know.

Anti turns on his heel and starts down the long hallway. It would take a good few minutes to find the exit, and he wanted to get a head start if they decided to chase him. Sure, he could have ripped his consciousness from the mindscape then and there, but that was risky for two reasons. One: it could do major brain damage to him, and while he'd eventually recover, he didn't want to go through that; and two: it could accidentally bring everyone out at once, and he needed to be outside the mindscape to trap them in. Someone calls out to him to stop, but he doesn’t listen. There was no reason for him to stay anymore.

The halls thin out as he weaves his way through the maze of snow white halls. Quiet footsteps in the distance signal that someone is following him, but he doesn't bother turning around to see who. Finally, he makes it to the only black door in the sea of white. The exit. He grips the handle and pauses. After so long of waiting for this, he was almost done. All that was left to do was work a little bit of magic. He turns the handle and steps into the black abyss beyond.


	17. Chapter 17

Jameson woke with a start to see that Henrik’s office was just as it was when they were pulled into the mindscape, not that it could have changed much in the fifteen minutes they were gone. Everyone was still passed out like a light, their heads bent forwards in uncomfortable positions. He takes a shaky breath, trying to process everything that was happening. He still didn’t understand what the hell Anti was doing, but he’d gotten a few things. Unfortunately, those few things just led to more questions.

One: Jack and Henrik were not to be trusted. They had obviously been hiding vital information about things, maybe even about themselves. But could he trust Anti?

Two: Jack isn’t Sean. Anti named him Sean, but immediately after said that it wasn’t his real name. Who is Jack, and what happened to Sean? Does Sean even exist?

Three: Anti used to be someone. For some reason, he’d never even entertained the thought that Anti was once a person. He just always assumed that he was always a glitchy demon. But Jack had called him Antonio, and Henrik called him “207”. The name set him on edge the most. It was his brother’s name.

Marvin shot up moments after Jameson did. He scanned the room and his eyes landed on Jack. They darken and he stands. Taking a deep breath, he says, “Come on, Jamie. We need to get out of here.” He reaches out to help him up, but Jameson pulls away, standing up by himself. For a moment, Marvin looked hurt, but the emotion passes quickly.

He pulls an arm to his chest. Questions racked his brain, but he couldn’t get any of them out. Nothing was making any sense. He’d thought he could trust Jack, but after seeing Marvin’s outburst towards him, he wasn’t so sure anymore. What had he done that made the magician that mad at him? Marvin said something about Jack taking something from him. What had he taken?

“Jameson, come on,” Marvin glanced nervously at the others. They weren’t waking yet, but he obviously didn’t want to be here when they did.

He hesitates. Could he trust Marvin? What if Anti had corrupted him in some way? He _had_ been a puppet for the glitch before after all. Jameson meets Marvin’s eyes, and all doubt he had melts away. He looked scared, almost pitiful, but anger creased his face in the smallest way. The look breaks something inside him, and he realizes that: yes, he _can_ trust him.

They slip out of the room slowly. Even though it wasn’t likely that any loud noises would wake the other’s up, they weren’t sure and didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. The door shuts easily behind them and they step into the hallway. Marvin tugs lightly on Jameson’s arm, signaling him to follow. He leads him to his room where the magician pauses in front of the door and  mutters a soft incantation. The door swings open.

Suddenly, the door to Henrik’s office slams open. Jackie stands in the doorway, hunched over and leaning against the doorframe, with eyes that were  still very much green. The hospital gown falls off of him at his shoulder, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it. The green eyes were confusing Jameson the most. Their eyes seemed to turn green if Anti was possessing them, and judging by how he reacted to them earlier, he was pretty sure the glitch hadn’t done anything to them. At least he hoped so.

Marvin waves his hand and a barrier forms between them and Jackie. He scowls and charges at them, only to bounce off the wall. “You can’t trust him, Jameson!” He yells, pounding his fists on the barricade, “He’s on Anti’s side! The wrong side!”

Jameson swallows hard. _“Maybe this is the side I want to be on,”_ He counters, surprising himself. Why on Earth would he want to be on Anti’s side? Was _he_ the one under the glitch’s control now. The very idea of it sent shivers down his spine.

No, he couldn’t be. Anti had said something about cutting their strings, and, somehow, Jameson felt more free than he ever had before. It was a strange feeling, not unlike how he always felt, but now it was as if he could think more freely than he’d been able to in a long time.

Jackie’s face contorts in anger and he bangs on the barrier again. “You’re going to regret this!”

“The̢y͏'͘l̴l̴ re͡g͞re̛ţ i̵t̴ mo̴re if͡ th̷e͘y͡ st͠a̧y ́he͢r͡e͢.” Anti appears out of nowhere and gives Jackie a pointed look. Then, he shoves Marvin and Jameson into the bedroom and slams the door behind them.

As he stumbled into the room, Jameson realized that he had never been inside Marvin’s room before. He never let anyone in his room, except for Jackie if he _really_ needed someone by his side. The room was incredibly neat. The bed was the messiest part of the room, and even that was relatively neat. The sheets were only slightly ruffled and the pillows lightly askew. Tall bookshelves stocked with worn, thick books lined the light blue walls. Jameson reached out to touch one of the tomes, but Marvin slapped his hand away.

Marvin leans against the opposite wall. He removes his glasses and runs a weary hand down his face, “That barricade won’t hold forever. We need to get out of here, and fast.”

 _“Could you do your teleportation thingy?”_ Jameson asks, wringing his hands together.

“I wish,” He shakes his head. “Jackie made a device to track my magic if I ever disappeared.”

“Tha͡t ̢w͘a̛s ̧aft́èr͞ ̸I ͟to̸ok Sc̛h͠n̷eepl͡e͠s̀t̷i҉e̷n,͡ ̵r̨ight́?” Anti looked rather smug at the fact that he had kidnapped the doctor.

Marvin nods, “Yeah. He also convinced me- well I suppose it was actually you- to enchant the mirage bracelets as trackers. As long as someone had one on, you could see where they were.”

 _“So, using magic is out of the question,”_ Jameson presses his lips together.

“W͢e̸ ̡st͜il̷l͜ h́ave̵ ̧t͢h̛i̕n̴gs t̷o do̵ ͜ḩe̛r̨e̡,̵ a̡n̛yway̷,” Jameson turns his head to Anti and raises an eyebrow. “ ̵And I'̕m̸ g͢o͘i͡n͠g͘ to ̸n̛eȩd ỳo͠u̡r h̡elp, Ma͜r͞vin.̛”

Marvin’s eyes widen for just a moment, “What on Earth do you need?” Annoyance laces his voice. Jameson notices how tired he looks. Dark bags hang under his eyes, and his shoulders slump more than usual. He wondered what caused him to be this exhausted.

“T͞o͠ t͢ŗa̶p͏ J̀ack ̡an̢d Sc͟h̢n̸ee͘pl̴e̶s̛tȩi̛n͞ in th͠e ̧m͞ind͜şc͜ap̕e,” He says like it’s the most normal thing someone could say.

As if on cue, someone bangs on the door causing them to jump in surprise. “Marvin! Jameson! Zis is your last chance!” Henrik calls, his voice muffled through the door.

“Yeah, well, to do that they need to be asleep. And they’re obviously _not_ asleep right now,” Marvin backs away from the wall. He nervously glances at Jameson, “How the hell are we going to get out of here.”   
  
Another bang on the door, “Open zis door, Marvin!”

Anti turns to Marvin, “You ͢c̸a͘n ͏b̡e̶ ̢t̵r͏a҉ckèd̢ thro͡u͡g̢h s̨p̢a͢c̛e,͜ ͘bu͠t wh̢a͘t͝ àbo͜u̕t͡ ti̕ḿe͟?̶”

 _“Time?”_ Jameson asks incredulously. _“What is this_ Doctor Who _?”_

“I don’t know, but it might be worth a shot,” Marvin says, ignoring Jameson’s question. He takes a breath, “But we don’t have anyway to move through time.”

“Jam̢es̷on̨, ͏d̷o ̷you ha̸ve͡ ́t̶h̨e̡ p҉o̢c͜ket w̶a̧t̛c͏h w̸i̴th̸ ̵yo͢u?͏” Anti asks.

He blinks back at the glitch, _“A pocket watch?”_ He decides it would be stupid to ask why and pulls out the gold plated watch that was once a gift to his brother. Painful memories resurface just from holding it. The final screams of ones he loved, the heavy scent of blood hanging in the air, the chilling green eyes of someone he thought he knew. He swallows and hands the watch to Anti, ready to be rid of it.

Anti smiles. Not the iconic twisted smile that he had come to fear, but a real, genuine smile. For the first time that Jameson had seen, Anti looked happy. “Y͢es,͞ ̴exac̨tl̶y!̕” He takes the watch from him. His face scrunches in concentration as he twists the small dials on the sides that change the time shown. Anti nods after a moment, “Pu͟t y̕òùr͡ ̸h͞ánds̨ ͟o͡v͞e̵r ̕m̶ìńe.͡”

A crash comes from outside and the door shudders under an impact from the other side. Shouts of anger resonate from the hall. Jameson quickly covers Anti’s hand with his own, ready to get the hell out of here. Anti’s hand is cold, unnaturally so, almost like how a corpse’s would feel. Marvin scurries across the room and places his clammy hand on top of Jameson’s. Anti meets their eyes one at a time and nods. Jameson hesitates before nodding back.

“No̕w͟,̢ th͜en͡. ̕L͞e͘ts l̷o̶s̶e̸ ͠th̨e͢se̢ fu̶c̛k̀ȩrs͘.” Anti presses what looks to be another dial on the the top of the watch, and the world around them starts to spin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all! I just want to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. School’s been giving me a ton of work and I haven’t had a whole lot of time to write. That, on top of writers block, caused me to struggle to find time time to write this. I hoped I enjoyed! There’s just one chapter left in this story!


	18. Chapter 18

The mindscape was quiet save for the soft sounds three pairs of footsteps on the hard, marble floor. Rage silently burned inside Jack's chest, threatening to spill out any moment as he, Henrik, and Chase stalked down the pristine hallways. He had sent Jackie ahead to try and cut off the deviating egos before they managed to get too far away, hoping that he would have more luck stopping them than the rest of them did. He only hoped that his injuries from his fight a few days ago wouldn’t slow him down.  

He bites down hard on the inside of his cheek. Silently, he curses himself for not seeing this coming. How had he not? Anti had been so quiet that he had obviously been waiting for the right moment to execute his plan. He’d been so quiet that Jack had even pulled some strings to make it look like the glitch was threatening them again. How had he even been able to free them?

The answer to the question stops him dead in his tracks. It was plain and obvious, yet he didn't want to believe it. Anti had plainly admitted that he had outside help, but Jack had been too arrogant to even consider the truth. His right hand clenches into a fist.

Henrik stops and glances back at him, “Jack? Are you alright mein Freund?”

“Yeah. I´m fine,” He turns on his heel and looks over his shoulder. “I think I need to check up on an old friend.”

Henrik seems to understand, and he nods. Chase, however, just stares blankly ahead, his now green eyes basically glowing against the paleness of the mindscape. It was exhausting using so much power just to keep him and Jackie under full control. In the end it would be worth it. He could continue his story as if nothing ever happened. They would all be his puppets again and they would follow his every command.

Jack starts down the opposite way and turns left as he reached the next hallway. Another left, then a right, and two more lefts led him to the hall that he wanted. The hall itself looked inconspicuous, the same as all of the others, but behind one of these doors was the most important thing in the mindscape. It- or rather, _he_ \- was the very reason that Jack hadn't wanted Marvin to access the mindscape in the first place. If only he had refused to help, maybe Jameson and Marvin would still be under his control. Jack shrugs the thought off. There was no changing the past, now he just had to fix everything.

The door in front of him was nothing special, white and boring just like the rest of them, but there was something small to distinguish it from the rest something almost invisible. A small, black piece of paper stuck right above the door. Anyone else would have just put if off as a trick of the light, but Jack knew better. He reaches for the handle and slowly opens the door.

The interior of the room is grey and barren, with only the light from the hall outside to illuminate anything. Peeling paint hangs off the walls, showing just how little care this room receives. A disheveled man sleeps, curled in the back corner. His head rests against the wall and eyes are shut tight. His once bright green hair had long ago faded to its natural brown, strands of grey now poking through. His eyes and cheeks were sunken, and his skin was a sickly white, too pale even for him. Manacles anchored him to the wall, keeping him just out of reach of a skeleton key on the other side of the room. A taunt that showed him just how little control he had anymore.

Jack kicks the man’s shin and winces as he feels the pain blossom in his own leg, “Wake up, idiot. You have company.”

He blearily blinks his eyes open, squinting against the brightness of light. His lips curl downward as he meets Jack's eyes. “Hello, Jack,” His voice cracks from disuse as he speaks for probably the first time in months. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Jack sneers and bends down to be on his eye level, “You know what you did. Don´t play dumb with me.”

The man smiles, but it doesn't reach his tired eyes, “It worked then?”

“What's your goal here, Sean?” Jack suppresses the urge to grab the man by the neck and choke the answers out of him, but he would hurt himself too much trying that. It wasn't worth the risk. Besides, he rather liked seeing him break just using his words. “You know you’re not getting out of here? Why bother affecting what happens outside of your little cage?”

"Because they deserve to be free, even if I can’t," Sean states plainly, a glare creeping into his eyes. “You can't control them forever. Someday you’re going to break, and you’ll bring them down with you. I don't want to see that happen.”

Jack shakes his head, “You have no idea what I'm capable of.”

“I have a pretty damn good idea.”

“Why team up with Anti? He's the most hated out of all of them. You could have gone for someone stronger, like Marvin?” Jack asks.

“He was already free. You let him go by the way, after you faked being possessed. Thanks for that,” Sean smirks. Even as broken as he was, he still had the energy to taunt him. Jack wasn't sure if he should admire that or hate it.

“Jack!” He stands, spins around, and watches as Henrik barrels into the room. The doctor leans against the door frame and breathes through heavy breaths. He coughs. “Zey escaped. Vee broke into Marvin's room and found zem gone. Zere isn’t any sign of zem anywhere.”

Jack groans, “What about the tracker on Marvin’s magic?”

Henrik shakes his head, “Not vorking. Vee cannot figure out why.”

He presses his lips together as Sean chuckles behind them. He honest-to-God wishes he could strangle the man, but he has half a brain to keep his cool. “Fine. Go back and see what you can do to help. I have some unfinished business here.” His eyes flash to Sean for a moment. Henrik gives him a curt nod and sprints back down the hall.

More rage bubbles in Jack’s chest. It was time to end this. “I still have Chase and Jackie under my full control.” He growls, still facing the opposite way “Do you know what I can do with them?”

Sean’s eyes widen, seeing where he's going, “Don't you dare…”

A smirk plays across Jack's lips, “It sure would be a shame if Chase’s depression were to return in full force. Shame, he was starting to get better as well. You know how well that ended last time.” Sean bites his lip. “And Jackie. So many projects, so many missions, so many things that could go wrong. You wouldn't want that to be your fault, would you?”

One of Sean´s hands clenches into a fist, “You wouldn´t-“

“But I would.” Jack interrupts. “And what about Signe? Or Robin? How would they react if they found out? How much would you lose?”

“What are you playing at?”

Jack kneels back down in front of him, “I would not hesitate to harm any of them.” Sean pales, knowing that he was telling the truth. “I’ve done it before. You know I would do it again. Do you really want that to be how this ends?”

Sean bows his head and murmurs something under his breath, too quiet for Jack to hear.

“What was that? I can’t hear you?” Jack understood what he was saying from his body language, but he wanted to hear him break.

“I said no!” His head snaps back up, eyes wild with a mix of fear and anger. Jack grins.

He was rather relieved that Sean had come to his senses. Frankly, he didn’t enjoy harming the egos. They seemed to be sentient beings, but he always had to remember what they really were: characters. Just characters to be used in the story he was weaving. Thinking of them that way helped him go on with his plans. If he truly thought about them like living beings, like Sean does, he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.

“Good,” Jack murmurs, then repeats it a little bit louder. “Now then, if you don’t want any of them to get hurt, you’ve got to do something for me.”

Sean wraps his arms around himself the best that he can with the manacles, “What would that be?”

“Help me find them. Help me regain control.” Jack reaches for the key in the corner of the room.

The manacles around Sean’s wrists unlock with a soft click. He rubs at his forearms, red and raw from metal rubbing against them for so long. Jack reaches a hand down to help him up. Worried, Sean hesitates before accepting. He doesn’t trust him, and for good reason. He’s unsurprisingly light, and stumbles a bit on his unused legs. Sean leans against the wall for support. “What do you need me to do?”

“You’re going to help me find your deviant friends in return for your freedom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. This is the end of this story! There were many times, especially at the beginning of writing this, that I wanted to abandon this project. I didn't have any ideas for how it should go and felt that it was lacking in many different areas. Now, I know there are a lot of things I could do better, but I am proud of what I have accomplished.
> 
> For a long time, this story had a very different ending, one that involved Marvin being the mastermind behind everything. That then somehow evolved into what I have now. This is why, if you go back and reread chapters, a lot of the stuff is very inconsistent. I apologize for that, but everything should make sense in the end, and this my friends is not the finale of this story.
> 
> Now, I want to thank a lot of people. First of all, Youtube_Fandom_Fan2018 for being an early supporter of this story. You're one of the reasons that I didn't give up on it. Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1) for being such an inspiration for this story and as a writer. StarlightXNightmare for being super supportive and also just being a great person and friend. And BiZaRe Pistachio because you're theories for this story are amazing and I never thought anything I would ever write would spawn anything like that. Finally, I want to thank everyone who commented or left kudos or bookmarked, the response to this has been more than I could have ever expected and I am so grateful.
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading. See you in the sequel.


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